PPP, PTI slam Punjab govt's relief in electricity bills

The Punjab government’s relief plan for exorbitant electricity bills has not met the expectations of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led governments in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as they rejected it as a futile attempt to subside the miseries of the inflation-hit masses. 

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif had announced the two-month power subsidy programme for the Punjab people a day ago which would be given to the consumers using up to 500 units in August and September bills.

PPP leader Murtaza Wahab, speaking on Geo News programme Naya Pakistan on Saturday, said that every government has prioritised providing relief to the masses but that should be granted on a long-term basis.

Commenting on the Punjab government’s power relief plan, he said that the provincial government would bear a financial expense of Rs45 billion while the relief would only last for only two months.

Wahab blamed the PML-N government for signing contracts with the independent power producers (IPPs) in haste.

He was of the view that the government is responsible for providing long-term relief instead of such moves taken merely for optics. Wahab added: “Provincial card should not be played on electricity-related issues.”

The Karachi mayor, whose party is a coalition partner of the ruling PML-N in the Centre, invited the federal government to formulate long-term plans with the PPP to provide relief to the masses.

In the same programme, Adviser on Finance to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muzammil Aslam also criticised Punjab’s two-month power subsidy announcement, saying that it would be tantamount to wasting public resources in the name of relief.

He claimed that unsustainable power projects were launched in Punjab — the most populous province of Pakistan — which generate electricity at the cost of Rs75 per unit via imported furnace.

On the other hand, Sindh and the KP were generating low-cost electricity, he added. He further claimed that the cost of per unit electricity generation would be Rs8 through the new power projects in the KP.

Aslam said that the KP government also allocated Rs20 billion for its solarisation project and is providing solar systems to each family at the cost of Rs200,000.

A day earlier, PML-N President Nawaz along with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced to slash the development fund to give Rs14 per unit relief in power bills to consumers using up to 500 units for the two months.

The PML-N president, patting the shoulder of her daughter CM Maryam, thanked her that she slashed flour prices when she assumed power in the province.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also welcomed the "historic" relief package for electricity consumers by the Punjab chief minister.

He said efforts are being made to find a lasting and sustainable solution to power crisis by taking measures against electricity theft and reforms in the power sector.

The premier said recently, his administration diverted Rs50 billion from the development budget of the federal government and gave relief in electricity prices, from which consumers with 200 units are benefiting.