The subsidy of Rs 13 per unit being given by the Punjab government to electricity consumers using between 200 and 500 units has provoked the Sindh government especially, and left the PTI KP government fuming in silence, making it even more urgent for the federal government to come out with its planned relief for electricity consumers. Power Minister Awais Leghari needs to get beyond the dark hints he dropped on Tuesday during his address to the National Youth Convention in Islamabad, and make actual cuts. The sniping by the Sindh government led Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to tell the Cabinet Tuesday that the Punjab government was funding the initiative from its development budget, and counter-attacked, asking Sindh and KP to offer similar programmes. His saying that the federal government provided them vast sums through the National Finance Commission mechanism showed a certain kind of resentment that might reflect a federal bureaucratic mindset.
With Mr Leghari now asking for a couple of months for resolving issues with the Independent Power Producers, the criticism voiced by many, including Sindh CM Abdullah Shah, of what would happen after a couple of months, when the Rs 45 billion carved by the Punjab government from its development budget ran out. Unless something turns up, memories might be revived to the Punjab government’s Sasti Roti scheme, which proved too expensive for it to manage, and which had to be abandoned in some disorder. Of course, if the Punjab CM has prior knowledge that the federal government is about to offer equivalent relief, it makes a certain sense to spend all that money so as to claim bragging rights.
It should be remembered that the power tariff deeply concerns all political parties, because it affects their chances of being elected. The Punjab is the battleground for the PML(N), the PPP and the PTI, which adds trenchancy to their criticisms. The latter two do not want the PML(N) to do well, particularly as they each have a province they control, where they do not seem to be able to offer a similar scheme. Therefore, it is not just the Punjab voter who will be grateful, but voters in other provinces will be envious, and resentful of the party that rules them. Any relief by the federal government will be to the PML(N)’s credit, as much as the PPP might then like to point out it supported the PML(N), the latter will not let forget that it was out of the government.
