ELECTRICITY & ITS CURRENTS TO GENERAL PUBLIC Electricity tariffs have been increased w.e.f. 1-10-2013. The increase in electricity tariffs has been worked out at exorbitant rates which is out of the power of a lot of people. How the cart of life is being run by them, at least, the elite class could not imagine. I know that no one would have enough time to acknowledge my writing and suggest the action to be taken upon them. However, I feel it my duty to give some airing to my proposals. The people should not be burdened to such extent. It is a huge burden which may be beyond the means of common man/salary persons. I have the following points to offer for consideration: i) Power stealing may be stopped. Some actions were seen to catch the power dacoits but now it seems that it has been stopped. There may be some agreement with the power thieves. If it is completely stopped, then perhaps the necessity of increase in tariffs to such extent would be unnecessary. The power theft by factories is on a large scale and it seems that each and every factory is involved in power theft. Factory owners seems it their duty to steal power. In this type of theft SDOs are involved. ii) Big fishes may be caught. Ordinary man cannot dare to steal the power. It is the people of WAPDA who facilitate the power dacoits by taking monthly illegal gratifications. Along with the big fishes, Lineman, Meter Reader and Line Superintendent are the persons who are involved in power theft. They are the basic elements which facilitate the power theft. iii) Free electricity to WAPDA employees be stopped at once. General public has to take out processions for the supply of electricity and these employees are enjoying at the cost of the poor people and they are using free electricity without any hesitation as they have not to pay any bills. Maal Muft Dil Bereham. Their free units never come to end. Free electricity concession may be withdrawn at once. iv) Solar energy be used for domestic purposes. Small solar units which may be enough for a home may be allowed to be imported duty free. All taxes levied by Government on the import of such solar energy units may be waived off. By this way, the burden on the Government to supply electricity to such extent would be reduced. In the meantime, investors be invited to invest in this field in Pakistan and production of solar units from small to big one be started within the country. v) After purchasing the meters, WAPDA sends them to its own laboratories so that their running may be set at a faster pace i.e. 25% more. This is another modus operandi to loot the general public. Whether the laboratories of WAPDA are more sophistically equipped than the manufacturers of such meters. If you have to check the meters compulsorily, these laboratories be operated under some other independent department so that WAPDA’s malpractices may come to end. vi) Meter Readers be made responsible for giving the meter reading to the owners of the meters. For this purpose, specific books be provided to the meter owners and on the date of reading, the Meter Reader may call for the book and write the date and reading of meter in this book. By this way it would also be advantageous that exact meter reading would be written and no objection whatsoever would be raised by the meter owner. In this way a large number of electricity consumers who go to the offices of WAPDA to get their bills corrected would also be saved from atrocities of WAPDA employees. vii) To show the line losses less, the Meter Readers take meter reading ordinarily on six or seventh of the month (in my area) but on the bill it is mentioned as first day of the current month. By this way, sometimes slab of the tariff is changed and the meter owner has to pay more. This practice be stopped. viii) The Meter Reader would show his loyalty to WAPDA and take less meter reading and those units left behind would be counted for in the next month so that more money be extracted for WAPDA from general public. The Meter Reader will never give the benefit of 200 units because of his cleverness. He is the source of electricity stealing within the houses. He helps the corrupt people in stealing the electricity. He rewind the meters back. Cottage industry is progressing day by day due to Meter Readers. ix) On the poor people sometime electricity bomb is fired and sometime petrol bomb is exploded. Why Government itself is not cutting down its expenses? The Government seems to be rich and the people of this country are the poorest. Sometime sui gas prices are increased. TV licences fee are enhanced. Sui gas security fee are increased manifold. The tyranny is that the security fee increased in the matter of sui gas has to be collected from the people who has taken connection earlier. What is the logic behind TV fee increase. See the electricity bill. You will find that it has become a collection centre. Neelum Jehlum surcharge is being received from a lot of years before. What is its logic. Whether Neelum Jehlum project will provide free electricity to the general public. Fuel adjustment is another head for looting the people. Electricity Duty is levied. General Sales Tax is also collected. x) On defeat of PPP, Mr. Zardari gave a statement that it was their blunder/mistake that they did not divert the funds earmarked for Benazir Income Support to electricity side. If that has been done, PPP have not met with such a fate. You have not learnt any lesson from the defeat of PPP. You are doing the same mistakes which PPP did. Do you called it a change? Use BISF (Benazir Income Support Fund) to give subsidy to the poor people. Likewise, petrol prices be controlled by adjustment of government taxes/duties. xi) Kunda culture should have to be discouraged/stopped. The cost of electricity used by Kunda thieves/dacoits should not be received from general consumers. Whether Kunda dacoits are so big that they could not be netted by Government or Government so helpless that it cannot take action against them. Obviously, the Kundas sucking electricity can be seen even by a blind man why these could not be seen by Government/WAPDA. xii) Overhead reservoirs could be built in each area so that water can be made available not only the habitants of ground floors but also the 2nd and 3rd floors. In this way the culture of donkey pumps etc. would come to end and a lot of quantity of electricity be saved in this manner. In Lahore motors/donkey pumps remain working almost all the day long which consumes a lot of electricity. In this way the electricity would also be saved and the owners would also be saved i.e. in electricity consumption and also in the matter of maintenance of motors. xiii) NTDC distributes lacs of savers free of cost. I have been reading and listening this practice since long. Why these are distributed, who are the recipient of these savers and what is the criteria for their distribution is not known. I think this is another example of malpractices. In my area, I see street lights with 500 watts of mercury bulbs since long. No one has changed them. A large quantity of electricity is consumed/destroyed. At least these free savers be converted in this direction. xiv) The campaign started by Government to take action against owners of factories who steals electricity has ended in a fiasco. Has the Government left the campaign against the thieves of electricity by kneeing down before big thieves through compromise? xv) Where has gone the tall promises which were made during election campaigns to allure the voters? It seems that this Government is the shadow of PPP Government. Where is change/tabdeli? Were you considering to make a change by increasing each and every thing which is being used by the poor, then you may call it a change? xvi) NS says that he is being died by thinking the condition of the poor. I think even the public think that you are being roasted day and night by thinking that how the poor could be minced/fleeced by PML (N). xvii) Law & order situation has gone from bad to worse. Neither someone’s honour is saved nor money/assets are in safe condition. Government departments are busy in looting day and night by both hands. xviii) Mr. Nawaz Sharif has announced that he will reduce the power tariff when cheap electricity would come into operation. It is again another white lie. In Pakistan costs can be increased but there is no question of their decrease. Another false promise is being given to general public. xix) Nepotism should be stopped. xx) Government servants should be recruited on merit. Their clearance sale should not be undertaken. xxi) The departments overburdened with government servants should be screened. xxii) The kings like style of government should be stopped. Heavy expenses should be curtailed. I was given to understand that a Government Minister fell ill. A doctor was called from Lahore to Islamabad to cure him. He rushed to Islamabad by air. His TA/DA and boarding/lodging would also have to be incurred. The question is that the doctors posted at Islamabad hospitals are inefficient.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 04:31:17 +0000
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