Fuel relief reaches Jhelum residents as minister oversees PM subsidy rollout; city library restored

Two stories from Jhelum this week frame a city navigating immediate economic pressures and longer-term civic renewal. The government's Fuel Relief Scheme, personally reviewed by Minister Bilal Azhar Kayani through visits to petrol pumps across the district, has brought subsidized petrol to motorcycle riders, rickshaw drivers, and others who depend on affordable fuel. And earlier this summer, Jhelum quietly completed the restoration of a 90-year-old public library — a project that has brought new energy to the city's cultural life.

Minister Kayani personally oversees PM Fuel Relief Scheme distribution at Jhelum petrol pumps

Minister of State for Finance and Railways Bilal Azhar Kayani visited petrol pumps across Jhelum on September 23 to review on the ground how the Prime Minister's Fuel Relief Scheme is being implemented in the district. The visit was not a ceremonial inspection: Kayani personally assisted citizens through the registration process and filled petrol in the motorcycles of eligible beneficiaries after their tokens were issued, as reported by Radio Pakistan.

The scheme works through an SMS-based registration system: citizens send a message to 9771 to register and receive a fuel relief token, which then entitles them to subsidized petrol at participating pumps. Registration camps have been established at petrol pumps across Jhelum to assist people who are less familiar with the digital process or who lack reliable smartphone access. Kayani directed the district administration during his visit to set up additional camps outside the DHQ Hospital and at government colleges, recognizing that many potential beneficiaries — patients, students, and their families — are concentrated near these locations and may not be reaching the pump-side camps.

The scheme targets those who depend on small vehicles for their daily livelihood or commute. Subsidized petrol is being provided for motorcycles, rickshaws, Qingqi rickshaws, and registered vehicles up to 800cc engine capacity — the categories most relevant to working-class and lower-middle-class households in Jhelum. For this segment of the population, motorcycle and rickshaw transport is central to how families, students, and workers navigate the city and surrounding areas. The difference between market-rate and subsidized petrol is meaningful in monthly household budgets, particularly at a time when fuel prices in Pakistan have been subject to frequent revision. The minister's hands-on approach signals intent to ensure the scheme's benefits actually reach the people it was designed for. [1]

How Jhelum residents are navigating token registration and subsidized fuel access

The Associated Press of Pakistan's coverage of Minister Kayani's Jhelum visit adds texture to how the fuel relief scheme is being delivered to citizens on the ground. The minister did not simply inspect the process from a distance: he stood at petrol pump registration camps, guided citizens step by step through the token application, and directly oversaw the dispensing of subsidized petrol to motorcycle owners who had completed registration.

This approach to on-the-ground oversight has practical significance beyond its symbolic value. The fuel relief scheme involves multiple steps — registration via SMS, verification of eligibility, token issuance, and fuel dispensing — and each step creates a potential barrier for citizens less familiar with digital processes or who have limited access to reliable mobile networks. By positioning a senior minister at the point of service delivery, the government is demonstrating attention to implementation quality and not merely policy announcement.

In Jhelum, as in other Punjab districts, the motorcycle is the primary mode of individual transportation for a wide segment of the population. Drivers of Qingqi rickshaws — the informal shared taxi vehicles common in Punjab's smaller cities — depend directly on petrol costs as a factor in their daily income. For them, the fuel relief scheme is not an abstract government benefit but a direct daily economic matter. The scheme's design, restricting eligibility to vehicles up to 800cc, targets the working end of the vehicle spectrum rather than car owners, ensuring that the subsidy flows to households where fuel costs represent a larger share of income. For Jhelum families watching the scheme's rollout, the minister's direct involvement and the expansion of registration camps to the hospital and colleges signaled a government that was monitoring implementation and adjusting as needed. [2]

Jhelum's 90-year-old Lala Lajpat Rai Library reopens after months-long restoration

Earlier this year, Jhelum completed a project that transformed one of its most historically significant public buildings. The Lala Lajpat Rai Library — a 90-year-old institution that had fallen into visible disrepair — was reopened following a four-month restoration effort led by the district administration, reported by Arab News PK. The renovation, valued at approximately $36,000, delivered a transformation that residents and regular visitors have found striking: nearly 4,000 books on polished wooden shelves, a new computer lab, and a reading hall restored to full usable condition.

The change made a strong impression on visitors who knew the library in its earlier state. Twenty-two-year-old Zain-ul-Abideen, returning after approximately a year away, described the before and after in vivid terms: a dimly lit reading room with faded paint and little furniture had become a bright, modern space that felt, in his words, like a completely different place. That kind of transformation in a public building carries meaning because libraries are one of the few genuinely public spaces in most Pakistani cities — open to anyone, free to use, and serving students, researchers, and readers who cannot afford private resources or digital alternatives.

The Jhelum library carries historical resonance. Its name connects it to the era of the Indian independence movement, and the building has been part of the city's institutional landscape for nine decades. Its restoration is not simply a renovation of physical infrastructure but a renewal of the institution's civic purpose. Officials described the project as an effort to revive a culture of reading in the city — an ambition that the new facilities, with their computer lab and ordered book collection, are now better positioned to support. For residents of Jhelum who use the library, and for students discovering it for the first time, the reopened space represents a tangible investment in the city's intellectual and public life. [5]

Sources: [1] RADIO PAKISTAN · [2] | Associated Press Of Pakistan · [5] Arab News PK