Khawaja Asif says Centre ready to hand over KP power distribution to PTI govt from Jan 1
Federal Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday welcomed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s demand to hand over control of power distribution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to him.
“If he can help us in this regard and improve the system there [in K-P], then that is good,” Asif told a private TV channel. He said that his ministry could immediately hand over control of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) to Imran and the PTI chief could then handle the distribution of electricity and recovery of dues.
“This is not about us failing. Over the past three, four months, there has been a reduction in line losses and theft. We do not claim there has been radical change, but there has been reduction, there has been improvement,” he said, adding “If the KP government believes that they can bring marked improvement in the system, then they should do it. If someone is trying to do good, we should not obstruct that.”
“He [Imran Khan] proposed January 1, he can take charge of PESCO from January 1, 2014.”
“What he [Imran] wants he can do, we can give him control of the entire distribution company,” he said.
Under the landmark 18th Amendment, power is one of the subjects that is supposed to be devolved to provinces. However, due to a multitude of issues, this has not happened so far.