Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Parliamentary Leader in the Sindh Assembly Khurrum Sher Zaman submitted a resolution on Wednesday concerning the Energy Conservation Plan of the federal cabinet.
Mr. Sher Zaman met with the representatives of the Karachi trader’s community in the morning to hear their reservations about the federal cabinet’s plan, which was announced on Tuesday.
The trader community is clearly opposed to the federal cabinet plan. Mr. Sher Zaman assured the traders that he would express their reservations in the Sindh Assembly.
After the meeting with the business community, the PTI Parliamentary Leader addressed a press conference and submitted the resolution at the Sindh Assembly Secretariat.
The resolution begins with a condemnation of the Energy Conservation Plan announced by the federal cabinet on January 3, 2023.
Mr. Sher Zaman expressed concerns that the federal cabinet’s decision to implement this plan without consulting the major stakeholders like the provincial governments, traders, retail, hospitality and restaurant industries are disconcerting and autocratic.
The resolution also recognizes that there is a need for an energy conservation strategy given the energy crisis in Pakistan. However, this energy conservation plan should have been implemented in the summer months when major load shedding occurs. Implementing this plan now during the winter season makes little sense.
Furthermore, the Defense Minister claims that this plan will save PKR 60 billion, which is a trivial sum when the circular debt of the energy sector is PKR 2.437 trillion and thus, this decision is more for optics than any real effort to save energy.
Mr. Sher Zaman, in the resolution, believes that conserving energy at the cost of sacrificing economic growth is illogical, as the economy is already suffering from inflation and slow economic growth. And so, this measure will likely result in further unemployment.
Moreover, the resolution questions why the sacrifices must be made by the public and business community when it comes to energy conservation. This kind of sacrifice must be shared as governments at all levels are major consumers of energy and should reduce their usage of electricity and petroleum. Plus, the federal cabinet has over 70 members when the country is suffering an economic crisis and so, the federal government should lead by example by trimming down the cabinet.
