Company threatens to cut off power supply of Pak PM's office over non-payment of bills
Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan faces an embarrassing situation as an electricity company has threatened to disconnect the power supply to his sprawling office in Islamabad if the bills worth lakhs of rupees were not paid by his cash-strapped government.
The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) on Wednesday issued a notice to the PM Secretariat that it will cut off the power supply if the bills were not cleared.
The IESCO said that the PM Office owed Rs 41 lakhs. The PM Secretariat did not pay Rs 35 lakh of the previous month also, it added. The PM Office failed to respond to several reminders, the company said.
Under the law, the company can disconnect power supply by issuing a warning if the bills of the two consecutive months are not paid. Due to the non-payment of bills, the company cannot pay to the private power producers which affects power generation.
Officials said the power supply in Pakistan has improved this year after many worst years in the past. Officials say that one of the reasons for low productivity was the unpaid bills by the government departments.
According to estimates, 22,000-24,000 megawatt electricity is needed in Pakistan. This demand increases up to 5 per cent each year. The Pakistan government claimed to produce 24,000MW electricity last year. But even the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), which is an institution of the government, does not confirm it.
The difference between demand and supply which was 5,000MW in 2013, has reached up to the level of 6,000MW in 2018, according to reports.
In June, Minister for Power Omar Ayub said that power generation improved due to better management. He said there was USD 80 billion investment opportunity in power generation and distribution sector.
Pakistan is facing "significant economic challenges" due to a weak and unbalanced growth and that its economy is at a critical juncture where it needs an ambitious and bold set of reforms, according to the IMF, which last month approved a USD 6 billion bailout package to the country.
Pakistan has also received billions in financial aid packages from friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE during the current fiscal year.
According to the Economic Survey 2018-19, Pakistan's economy grew at an average rate of 3.29 per cent in fiscal year 2018-19 against an ambitious target of 6.2 per cent set in last year's budget.
The fiscal deficit was recorded at 5 per cent of the GDP compared to 4.3 in the corresponding period last fiscal.
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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
