Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has directed all ministries concerned to meet on a daily basis and come up with out-of-the-box solution to the problem of power outages, especially unscheduled load shedding during the hours of Iftar and Sehr, Information Minister Firdaus Ashiq Awan said on Wednesday.
Briefing reporters after a cabinet meeting held with the prime minister in the chair, the information minister said Gilani declared that ending load shedding, particularly the unscheduled one, was his top priority and asked the ministries concerned for take immediate steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply during Iftar and Sehr hours.
“The prime minister has directed the Ministry of Water and Power, Petroleum and Natural Resource, Finance, Industries and the Planning Commission to meet on a day-to-day basis and come up a solution to end the load shedding in general and during Iftar and Sehar in particular,” Firdaus said. He said the cabinet also discussed investment of Rs 1 trillion in the energy sector.
The ministers were perturbed that the investment had not produced the desired results, stressing that the issue of circular debt and improvement in the performance of DISCOs and KESC was of immediate concern. Explaining the reason behind persistent energy crisis despite the investment of Rs 1 trillion, the information minister said the energy demand was ever-growing and by the time the government met the previous shortfall, the demand went up.
She said the government realised the gravity of the energy shortage and was working on an alternative energy sources vis-à-vis increasing coal, thermal and hydel power in the country. Talking about the prime minister’s briefing to the cabinet about his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, Firdaus said Gilani had a meeting with King Abdullah and discussed issues pertaining to Afghanistan and regional stability, bilateral trade, economic relations and future ties between the two countries.
She quoted Gilani as saying King Abdullah had promised to help Pakistan in all sectors. The information minister also added that the prime minister invited King Abdullah to Pakistan. Firdaus told the reporters that the cabinet also discussed the Rs 11 billion bailout package for the Pakistan Railways. She said Rs 6 billion would be spent on purchasing new locomotives and Rs 5 billion would be spent on restructuring the department.
Gilani said Rs 11 billion would be transferred to the Pakistan Railways within a few days. She said the prime minister directed the Minister of Railways to ply special trains on the eve of Eidul Fitr. The cabinet also discussed the Civil Servants (Amendment) Bill 201.
PM directs ministers to come up with ‘out-of-the-box’ solution
