ISLAMABAD: The caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar is likely to announce the relief in electricity bills on Tuesday as the proposals have been sent from finance as well as the power division.
The mass protests nationwide and people coming out on the streets beating Water and Power Authority employees have made the government take a step back and rethink its approach.
The inflated electricity bills have made people burn the document and question the authorities as to how they can charge the amount.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement setup raised the electricity tariffs with the reason that it was one of the conditions put forward by the International Monetary Fund.
The bills that came right after the caretaker setup took the reigns have made people question the legitimacy while at the same time, the PDM regime that raised the tariff is pandering the public sentiments that what is happening is wrong.
Politics can be so cruel as witnessed in the current scenario as those responsible are shifting the blame on the others.
Pakistan not long ago had a public who was not resentful and it is but in the recent past. The payment of these bills has forced people to sell their daughter’s dowry and their household belongings mostly motorcycles and mobile phones.
The Minister for Energy Muhammad Ali is meeting the caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and the one-point agenda is why the bills are so inflated.
The announcement is likely later today as the deadline given by the PM on Sunday ends Tuesday.
The PM stressed measures to counter the power theft and line losses and meeting with power distribution companies is done with the aim of giving relief to the commoner.
The Premier also asked for the list of departments that get free electricity as the public is mounting pressure that all free borders that are but a handful besides wasteful should be charged and laws should be in place. The masses believe the preferential treatment in Pakistan is the root cause of all ills.
It is believed that the caretaker government after seeing the public mood is likely to give relief in the bills for a couple of months as what comes next is winter when electricity is consumed far less and the electricity tariff will be raised gradually spanning over the following months.
The Independent Power Providers (IPPs) and agreements made in the past leave little scope but it is hoped that relief as announced by the caretaker setup will be there once their will be a serious effort is curtail the power theft that has been going on to nearly half a century in Pakistan where the mighty elite just never pay their bills.
