Every government has befriended the power plants to break the backs of Pakistanis and the power plants have been showing kindness to the governments and the people by saying that we are giving you loans. This has always been the case with some of our neighbors who say that we help Pakistan and provide oil to its citizens on credit while surprisingly both electricity and oil are provided to Pakistanis at a high cost.
To this day, our friends have never given cheap electricity or oil, but Pakistan and its people are still being pressured under the weight of benevolence. On top of that, if our governments are not able to collect taxes from other places, then the people are being forced to pay exorbitant taxes by resorting to electricity bills.
That is why institutions like the IMF have always demanded from governments to increase electricity prices and impose more taxes on the people. Today, almost 40% of every Pakistani’s income is generated by these power plants, which is causing constant hardship to the people of Pakistan.
Industrialists can never prosper as long as electricity prices continue to rise while we are weeping for the previous government that the government made fun of the people or made a fool of them? Because the slabs of different electricity prices were made in such a way that almost every Pakistani falls into its grip.
On the other hand, the public and journalists are told that we have kept the price of electricity very low for the poor and most of the electricity rates have been increased for those who use more than 200 units. Not that 75% of Pakistan’s citizens do not use 200 units of electricity, but their use remains above this limit.
The reason for the high consumption of electricity is the water motors installed in every house, without which the availability of water in the house is not possible. The tanks of every house are on the roof and a motor has to be used to deliver water to the tanks. Pakistan is basically a country with severe weather where both heat and cold are severe.
Even the poorest people have to use fans to get rid of the extreme heat. In addition to the use of fans in every house when washing clothes, electricity is also used for ironing which is one of the basic necessities of every house while here we are not talking about air cooler, AC or washing machine.
We are talking about the electrical appliances that every poor person uses. Water motors and ironing consume a hefty unit of electricity for which there is no other alternative system available to take advantage of.
If only water motors, irons, fans, and lights are used in a house, then the electricity consumption is more than 200 units. Ironing is most commonly used on children’s clothing, school uniforms, headmaster’s clothes, and women’s clothing that is ironed daily.
The remaining low-power consumers who use even 200 units are not sent low electricity bills but are charged double the tariff from 6 pm to 10 pm. Now tell me, when a poor man comes back from work tired from 6 pm to 10 pm, won’t he use lights to light his house?
Should the poor man give up the use of fans to relieve the fatigue of the day? The government’s cry is that load shedding is being increased due to power shortage but the import of electric vehicles is being allowed without any duty.
The current government seems to be taking similar steps. For example, when electricity prices for industries also increase, the cost of production will increase and all commodities will be available at higher prices.
Rising electricity prices in Pakistan are increasing the cost of living and the cost of production and the people are forced to appeal to governments to reduce electricity prices. Power plants have always been increasing their earnings due to the influence of political people, which is to the detriment of the people.
But the government and the people are favored that we are providing you electricity on loan. Debt does not mean that you have to sell your goods at exorbitant prices and that power plant owners know that they will get money from the government. This money is like money kept in banks, the interest of which increases on a daily basis. This provides entertainment for so-called lenders.
The plight of the common man has increased so much that today the Pakistani nation is hoping that some Messiah may come and save Pakistanis from the fraud and oppression of these power plants. There is a need for the federal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to take significant steps to ensure that the basic needs of the people are available to the people at reasonable rates.
