ISLAMABAD: Senator Quratulain Marri of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has said the people are paying tax separately on electricity bills and also on their salaries.
“Forty-seven percent of the electricity is being generated from imported fuel and only two percent from using Thar coal which is the cheapest source of electricity in the country,” she said, while addressing a news conference here on Friday.
Senator Sehar Kamran and Media Coordinator Nazir Dhoki were also present on the occasion.
She said the poor people of Pakistan were not using the free units of electricity. “The caretaker prime minister says that the judges do not use free units of electricity, whereas, the fact is that thousands of units of electricity are provided free of cost to judges as well,” she said.
She said people cannot pay tax twice on one salary.
“It is better to provide real relief to the people than to take artificial measures. The PPP government has focused on targeted subsidy in Sindh province. The targeted subsidy initiative is not difficult to impose,” she said.
She said that 2,600 megawatts of electricity were being generated from Thar coal. She demanded that the free electricity to certain consumers must be discontinued. “The biggest loss is due to electricity theft. The IMF did not ask us to pay income tax and as well as tax on electricity bills,” she said.
Senator Marri said the policies of the previous government had caused that problem, adding the caretaker government did not have the solution to the people’s problems as it was with the elected government of the people.
She said that elections were the solution to the country’s problems.
Senator Quratulain Marri said the biggest problem facing the people of Pakistan was paying the electricity bills. “We are forced to pay tax on our salaries as well as electricity bills. We asked how eighty-percent of the people living in rented houses in Pakistan can pay double tax,” she said.
Senator Marri said the people of Pakistan rejected cosmetic relief. She said “if relief is only given to the person on whose name the meter has been issued then how will the people living in rented houses pay the bloated bill,” she asked.
“The FBR will meet its target but the burden will fall on the public. We are producing 47 percent of the electricity from imported fuel and only two percent are using Thar coal which is black gold for Pakistan. The PPP has provided solar system to 0.2 million homes in Sindh. In 2010, the PPP created an alternative energy board but successive governments did not use it and the people of Pakistan could not get its benefits. Thar coal is the cheapest source of electricity in Pakistan. When we have vast coal reserves then why is expensive coal imported in Pakistan,” she asked.
Senator Kamran said that no one should be using free electricity like the presidents, prime ministers and other government functionaries, who get free power units even after their retirement. “Why is electricity given for free after retirement,” she asked.
She said that paying bills in instalments is not a solution. She asked for action against the people who are involved in power theft.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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