The Governor House in Karachi was host to a special celebration to honor the organizations which make Karachi a vibrant and thriving city with their social welfare contribution – the closing ceremony of KE’s 2nd KHI Awards, an initiative endorsed by NEPRA and launched in collaboration with #IAmKarachi.
40 winners from across 13 diverse categories – from Heritage & Culture to Sports, Social Service to Safety, and more – were recognized for their efforts in driving societal change in Karachi as part of their core mission. The chief guest of the event as Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, while Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi, and Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Minister of State & Chairman of Board of Investment (BOI) were guests of honor for the event.
Following the pandemic, businesses across the globe were faced with increased risk and instability regardless of their size, but the utility observed that the sector most affected was the one tasked with addressing societal problems.
While new initiatives primarily focused on food security, improved hygiene, and securing livelihood, many actors addressing pertinent challenges beyond these areas were left out of the mix. The KHI Awards addresses this problem by providing an equitable and impartial avenue through which winners are awarded grants of PKR 40 million in the form of rebates on electricity bills.
While highlighting the importance of Karachi, Governor Sindh Imran Ismail stated the Karachi’s dynamism is a key driver of national growth, and we must all play our role to continue enriching its vibrancy.
He further said that the federal government had taken series of initiatives for the overall development of Karachi. “In addition to Greenline BRT service, federal government pays special focus on development of the port city to overcome related challenges faced by the citizens”, he added.
Appreciating the KHI Awards, he said that Karachi Awards has emerged as a perfect forum for encouragement for the organizations working to uplift the society at large.
While lauding other initiatives of the power utility he further said “Another project of K-Electric that needs to be encouraged is Roshni Baji, through which women are empowered by becoming safety ambassadors and going door to door for electrical safety awareness.” He also stressed upon other organisations to come up with similar initiatives to provide relief to the community and to bring betterment to the society.
Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Minister of State & Chairman BOI during his address at the event said, “We must appreciate K-Electric as it honors those organizations today which are playing a critical role in bringing betterment to the city and remain committed to making it more livable and sustainable.
Karachi being the economic hub of the country has tremendous potential to attract further foreign investment, improved state of the city however, remains a pre-requisite. Therefore, we need to make collective efforts to address this city’s challenges and prioritize its progress on every fronts.”
Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi congratulated the winners and appreciated KE’s initiative. Addressing the audience, he said, “It is commendable to see that KE is finding innovative ways to take ownership of the communities it serves.
We have to understand that creating meaningful relationships with customers and the environment is necessary to drive sustainable progress. This is why NEPRA introduced the ‘Power with Prosperity’ vision to galvanize the power sector, and we have seen sizable investment and job creation across Pakistan through CSR efforts.”
