In Islamabad, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar made a firmcommitment on Monday to take decisive action against individuals engaged in”electricity theft.” This announcement came as his administration grappleswith widespread protests across various regions of Pakistan triggered bysoaring electricity bills.
Over the past week, outraged citizens have taken to the streets indifferent parts of the country in response to the government’s decision toraise power tariffs in July. The protests reached a peak on Saturday whenshops and markets remained closed in cities such as Lahore, Karachi, andPeshawar. Demonstrators expressed their frustration by staging protestrallies and even burning their electricity bills in defiance of the tariffincreases.
These developments follow Islamabad’s crucial $3 billion deal with theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) signed a few months ago to avert apotential default due to years of mismanagement and instability. A Rs7increase in the basic tariff was approved in July and was set to beimplemented from September. Additionally, in August, the National ElectricPower Regulatory Authority approved an additional hike of Rs4.96 per unit,but the implementation of this increase has been delayed due to ongoingprotests.
Prime Minister Kakar has consistently emphasized that his government isactively seeking a solution to alleviate the burden of high power bills onthe general population, who are already grappling with soaring inflation.
Radio Pakistan, the state-run broadcaster, reported, “Caretaker PrimeMinister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar says the government will take stern actionagainst electricity thieves.” The report detailed that the Prime Ministerchaired a meeting in Islamabad, during which he received a comprehensivebriefing on the state of the power sector.
Read Top Stories
During this meeting, the Prime Minister was informed about various aspectsof electricity generation, including potential, installed capacity, actualgeneration, and distribution under different weather conditions.
Prime Minister Kakar, in a statement to journalists on August 31,reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to honoring the agreements it has enteredinto with international financial institutions. He emphasized that Pakistanwould not deviate from these agreements, as they are binding and necessaryin a free market environment.
These protests are occurring at a time when Pakistan’s economy is facingsignificant challenges, marked by the depreciation of its currency againstthe US dollar and a substantial decline in the country’s stock exchange,which lost over 1,200 points on a recent Thursday.
