Government urged to withdraw proposed hike in power rates

Sheikh Zahid Fayyaz, Chief Organizer of Pakistan Awami Tehreek, has said that the proposed raise in the power rates from January 2010 onwards was regrettable. It would further add to the financial difficulties of people who were already bearing a heavy brunt of dearness and inflation. He said that Pakistan Awami Tehreek demanded of the government not to go ahead with its proposed plan and withdraw it forthwith. If the government did not give relief to the people, it should not add to their problems too. "The federal minister for water and power had been constantly promising with the nation that the load shedding would end by December 2009. We were justified to ask him as to where the promise was given the fact that power outages were back with a bang," he commented.

Sheikh Zahid Fayyaz expressed these views while addressing press briefing in the central secretariat the other day. He said that the government needed to cut down its non-developmental expenditure and increase the tax to GDP ratio. Passing on the burden of luxuries of the rulers onto poor people was an unwise policy with lethal implications. It was high time our ruling elite woke up from its slumber.

He said that resolving the people's problem should be the topmost priority for the government, a responsibility which is at the heart of social contract between state and its citizens. "Pakistan Awami Tehreek demands of the government to reduce the economic worries of people through a reform programme so that they could have necessities of life at cheaper rates," he concluded.