The government of Punjab has made many Schemes to improve the lives of their residents. Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif initiated another great initiative by approving the “Roshan Gharana” programme under which solar panels will be provided to millions of resident of Punjab Province. According to the budget documents, Roshan Gharana Programme cost of Rs9.5 billion. The scheme will provide solar panels to households consuming between 50 to 500 units of electricity, with the government bearing 90 per cent of the cost and the consumer paying the remaining 10pc. The main objective of the government solar program is to lessen reliance on conventional energy as grid prices have surged due to high levies. In a statement CM Punjab stated that the government aims to mitigate the effects of past destruction and ensure that the public does not face such issues in the future. According to the eligibility criteria, Households using less than 200 units of electricity per month will receive free solar panels, those using 200 to 500 units can apply for loans to install solar panels and those using more than 500 units will be eligible for loans that are 75% for the same purpose. The payments will be interest-free and spread over five years. The distribution will be handled through banks. According to Samia Sohail, the program encourages energy independence by enabling homes to produce their own electricity, lowering dependency on the conventional power grid and providing a dependable backup during shortages. Reducing dependency on fossil fuels aids in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, hence helping in the fight against climate change.
As the world transitions towards renewable energy sources, Pakistan is taking significant steps to harness solar power. The Punjab Free Solar Panel Scheme 2024 is a significant initiative aimed at reducing the financial burden of high electricity bills for residents. This program not only supports lower-income households but also encourages a broader adoption of solar energy, contributing to a greener future. However, there is also fear among the people that the power thieves will not benefit much from this scheme because of their low billing/ less consumption of units. Although NEPRA defines the policy and roadmap for distribution companies, how to control the electricity theft and unpaid bill recovery. However, electricity thieving ratio is more than the previous years because of no punishment for those who have used the illegal electricity connection or tampering the meter. Illegal connection might be valuable for those who have these illegal (kundas) connection but the honest consumers have to abide the burden of huge tariffs and insufficient electrical power supply. It is the responsibility of electricity supply companies to hunt the individuals answerable for electricity stealing. Following are some suggestions to stop stealing and get the Roshan Gharana Scheme more productive results;
- Meter tampering, illegal connections, physical destruction of energy meters, stop the rotated disk of energy meters and fake billing are major source of electricity theft. Many ‘Kunda’ connections are causing heavy financial losses. It is therefore necessary to take serious and practical steps against such crimes.
- One method of getting electricity into the Kunda system is accessing a nearby area where timing of two neighbourhoods are different for load shedding. This type of malpractice must be discouraged.
- The actual load of residential homes of such households having units between 100 to 500 may be checked through surprise visits by the field officers as there are numbers of thieves who are consuming more electricity due to their much home appliances but paying less due to theft.
- Employees of electricity supply companies especially the field officers must be held responsible for electricity theft as it is very hard to steal the power without the consent and collusion of these officials. Management, law and order situation, infrastructure, monitoring system and training for staff must be upgraded & improved.
Power thieves has the legal footing to get the free solar from the government and sell electricity back to the government by stealing electricity. In this way, power thieves will be in the benefit of the solar, who will also get solar for free and after using free electricity, they will also make profit by selling electricity. While using more power units legally, will be less beneficial due to consuming more units. Power thieves are powerful and thus yet, enjoying free electricity. They are hopeful for double benefit due to Roshan Gharana Scheme. The main issue is how the legal consumers be benfited?
The author is a professor of Islamic Studies at Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan.
