The government has left new schemes in the country to provide relief to the masses in terms of austerity, right-sizing, down-sizing and electricity due to which the citizens have become more worried. After the recent increase in electricity prices the government has given temporary relief to Lifeline electricity consumers from the latest increase. For the next three months consumers that using less than 200 units will get a subsidy of up to Rs 7 per unit.
The government emphasized that this benefit covers about 94 percent of the total consumers. On the other hand NEPRA, has decided to increase the cost of electricity by Rs. Supposedly, even if the people get the above mentioned relief the government is not capable of doing politics on it. The main reason for which is that the government is selling electricity to the public at very high rates so even if the above subsidy is accepted, it is not a real solution because it only exposes the problem. Through the Prime Minister’s own admission the money for the subsidy has been diverted from the development budget. Which means the long-term benefit will be even lower costs on infrastructure and services.
Meanwhile the period of three months is not a very long time on which the government is leaving so many worries. Remember that the poor will not be able to pay the new tariffs even after the end of the subsidy. Also like the plan to increase tax revenue by targeting the salaried people, the recent increase in electricity rates is against the poor and middle class besides a ridiculous move for anyone familiar with the problems of the power sector.
It is easy for these rulers to blame only the IMF. In fact the real concern of the IMF fund is not the tariffs but the losses and debts of the power sector. Now what the government should do is to aggressively pursue the defaulters of electricity, especially the rich but so far none of the current or past governments have been able to get their hands on these big crooks.
Unfortunately since most of the rich defaulters are still represents the ruling class, even the private companies that generate electricity belongs to the same political parties. That’s why the government could not devise any mechanism by which the rich could be caught.
On the contrary, the government always chooses the easy way out and then tries to convince us that it has taken a tough decision. Meanwhile, direct and indirect subsidies for various industries also need to be reviewed in these circumstances. Supporting uncompetitive and inefficient industries and their owners at the expense of poor people is wrong on many levels.
Pakistan’s problems certainly required the fundamental. Unfortunately what we are getting is mostly plastic surgery. Empty promises of ending debt need to be replaced with honest solutions to overcome and move beyond it.
If the government cannot freeze electricity rates, the least thing it can do is to reduce the frequent flow of rates and urgently reform the electricity pricing system.
Accualy the measures will not be taken till the judiciary, the elites and the legislature class continues to joke with the people. A complete and comprehensive reform program is needed to get the country out of the energy crisis, which can be implemented by the government houses and the higher judiciary. Which will have to start with the deductions of free unit given to the judicial officers and elite class for which the petitions had filed in the courts that may have been putted in dustbins, those are questioning the judicial system? That when such decisions will be made that would be cause a wave of happiness in the people but the way our courts are highlighting political cases, (even the opening of unneeded execution case of Zulfikar Bhutto) it seems that people may have to wait for decades to get actual relief.
