Cabinet decides to withdraw subsidy on tube wells

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet has decided to withdraw subsidy on agricultural tube wells and refund the GST on uncollected electricity bills to the power sector in an effort to tackle the problem of circular debt.

Briefing media person here on Thursday after the Cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Minister for Information, Firdaus Ashiq Awan said that the meeting decided to install metering system on tube wells in Balochistan and adopt a uniform tariff policy across the country. She said that a summary was presented to the Cabinet for the strengthening of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) so that it could implement a uniform power tariff across the country.

The minister said the Cabinet agreed to the demand of AJK government for not imposing GST on their electricity bills and also constituted a committee to settle issue of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC).

She said that a detailed discussion was held on the issue of energy sector reforms as well as restructuring of the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and it was decided that the Cabinet meeting would be held weekly to review the progress on each entity. The minister said the government has been providing huge resources to the SOEs but their performance was not up to the mark.

Firdos said the meeting was informed that Pepco has been dissolved to set up Central Power Purchasing authority (CPPA) to take care of the issues in power sector. The minister said that there would be positive and encouraging impact of Pepco dissolution on the power sector that would start appearing after some time.

She said inter-ministerial committee on energy sector informed the Cabinet about the drive against power defaulters that 0.2 million electricity connections of defaulters have so far been disconnected after the expiry of 45 days deadline and Rs 2.3 billion recovered. The committee said that 43,000 electricity connections have been reconnected after clearance of dues by defaulters while the remaining are still disconnected.

The minister said a proposal for two hours load shedding in cities and four hours in rural areas was presented to the Cabinet for approval and implementation after two months when the hydel power generation would decrease following decline in water reservoirs. The Prime Minister, she said, opposed the unscheduled load management and directed for taking all the stakeholders on board and ensure that there is no unscheduled load shedding. About gas load management, she said the Prime Minister directed on the conclusion of presentation by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources that domestic consumers should be provided with gas on priority basis. The Cabinet meeting also directed the SNGPL and SSGCL to set their priorities and present a detailed plan in the next meeting, so that all the sectors should be treated equally.

The Cabinet reviewed the implementation status of the Cabinet decisions pertaining to Economic Affairs and Establishment Divisions and was informed that 6,118 contract and daily wages employees have been regularised and huge task of accommodating and adjusting over 60,000 employees of 17 devolved ministries has been accomplished and the prevalent ministries have been directed to ensure payment of their salaries. The National Commission of Human Development (NCHD) employees are being paid their salaries as per the Supreme Court decision, she added.

She said the Prime Minister and the Cabinet prayed for speedy recovery of the President so that he could return to the country and perform his duties. The Cabinet also hailed the interior ministry, provincial governments and law enforcement agencies for their co-ordination and ensuring peace on Ashura with the support of people.

The interior minister informed the Cabinet that as many as 21,143 Majalis and 5,180 processions were taken out across the country. The federal government facilitated provincial governments by providing 8 helicopters for surveillance, 1018 Rangers, 924 FC personnel and 795 troops for security purposes.