Punjab govt gives big relief in electricity bills - Salman Akram Raja Raises Important Questions
Transcript
00:00Mr. Salman, you are a bystander. You are sitting outside and seeing that the government has given a relief.
00:07Secondly, it is also calling it stupidity. Then corruption money. And suddenly this debate started.
00:11Where do you stand on the issue principally?
00:17Look, first of all, let's understand what is the relief for two months and what will happen after that.
00:24And to give a relief of two months, you did corruption in PSTP.
00:29It actually means that you did corruption in health and education.
00:34The money that was to be spent on health and education, a large part of PSTP is spent on health and education.
00:40These are morning subjects.
00:43So you are spending billions of rupees for two months by cutting health and education for short-term political benefit.
00:52So on the one hand, it is stupidity. This is not the solution to the real problem.
00:56But you, Mr. Rajan, you know this.
00:59We have been saying for a long time that a brother cut his brother's throat for 15,000 rupees.
01:05Someone committed suicide because they were not paying the electricity bill.
01:07People were going out with mics.
01:09And they used to say that I sold a motorcycle and paid the bill.
01:12I did this and paid the bill.
01:13People can't make ends meet.
01:17So what will happen after two months?
01:22Look, it was given for two months. What will happen after that?
01:25Two months will pass.
01:26And after that, it will come back again.
01:28So you have to find a solution to the real problem.
01:31And you have to look at it in a big picture.
01:34Look, the problem starts with the power policy of 1994.
01:39Under that, the IPP was implemented.
01:41In which a tariff was given.
01:43On a cost-plus basis, it becomes a little technical.
01:45In 1995, I was the legal advisor of the private power infrastructure board.
01:50All this happened in front of my eyes.
01:52And at that time, people were protesting.
01:54They were saying, what are we doing?
01:55But anyway, this happened.
01:56These were not the decisions of the lawyer.
01:58These were the decisions of the policy makers.
02:00Such a large capacity was imposed on capacity payments.
02:03After which the country did not need it.
02:05After that, you see, in 2007,
02:07it was done that the dollar index was 15% returned on the investment of money.
02:13This was the era of Musharraf.
02:15And after that, if you see,
02:17Mr. Atif has tweeted a lot that
02:20$30 billion was invested in 2014,
02:24of which big weddings were held at that time.
02:26Today, it is on our necks.
02:28Yes, absolutely.
02:29Yesterday, I told Mr. Shahbaz Sharif.
02:31He said, who has installed imported fuel in this country?
02:34I found out, sir, you have installed it.
02:36You have given this gift to Pakistan.
02:38Yes, in 2014.
02:39Mr. Atif has said that today our problem is
02:42that in fact, in 2014,
02:44we have put a capacity of $30 billion,
02:47on which now we are having difficulty in paying.
02:50And for that, we have to increase these electricity bills.
02:53So, keep the whole scenario in front of you.
02:55If Absinthe complains about this,
02:57then I understand their point that
02:59they must have made a budget.
03:00In that, they must have allocated some money for health and education.
03:04Now, in order to compete with Punjab in this competition,
03:07they will have to cut it off.
03:09This will cause a loss to the public.
03:11Similarly, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
03:13So, this action that has taken place,
03:15this two-month relief,
03:17there is no relief.
03:18And its loss will be directly in the health and education sectors.
03:22Sir, by the way, PSDP, largely,
03:24there are development projects.
03:26Roads have to be built.
03:27Such things.
03:28Largely, money is spent on PSDP in these places.
03:30Because the budget for health and education is there.
03:33But the last question is to Ms. Palwasha.
03:35Ms. Palwasha, are you feeling embarrassed?
03:38Do you think this is the shame of the Sindh government?
03:41Because of which, this harsh statement,
03:43this foolishness,
03:45yesterday,
03:47Mr. Ghani also said this.
03:49Today, Mr. Sharjeel Mehman also said this.
03:51Are you feeling embarrassed?
03:53Babu, hold on.
03:57Why should I be embarrassed?
03:59They have given a relief which
04:01your public will demand from you
04:03that we should also get this relief.
04:05Look, the thing is that there is no relief.
04:07I apologize to Mr. Tariq.
04:09There is no relief.
04:11After these two months,
04:13when lakhs of gas bills will come,
04:15then they should also announce that
04:17how many months it is.
04:19Look, there is no solution.
04:21For two months, even if they cut money from anywhere,
04:23or whatever they did,
04:25after that, the two months of less bills,
04:27after that, look, the weather is already getting cold.
04:29Now, the AC is not as hot as it used to be.
04:33Now, the relief is not like
04:35the relief of summers.
04:37But, when
04:39the gas bills will come,
04:41then tell me what to do about that.
04:45So, you are saying that
04:47these short-term reliefs cannot be given everywhere.
04:49These are not short-term reliefs.
04:51What kind of relief is this?
04:53The month we are sitting in,
04:55right now,
04:57you can see for yourself
04:59that the use of electricity
05:01will naturally reduce in the next two months.
05:03And, anyway,
05:05just tell me about gas.
05:07The gas bills that people got last year.
05:09If those bills come this year,
05:11then what is the solution for that?
05:13Look, I am surprised.
05:15But, I am telling you
05:17that all the Jamaats
05:19need a long-term solution.
05:21I am saying that
05:23it will not make any difference.
05:25When the gas bill will come in the third month,
05:27if a goodwill of two months
05:29will be created,
05:31then all that will be reduced.
05:33But, do you realize, ma'am,
05:35when you criticize the policy,
05:37like Dr. Sir was saying yesterday,
05:39why will you criticize any of your policies?
05:41Look, you can criticize.
05:43I have no objection.
05:45Dr. Sir can still say.
05:47There can be many shortcomings of ours.
05:49But, if I call Dr. Sir's party corrupt,
05:51then if I sit with them,
05:53then if I have to talk about corruption,
05:55then I should think about it first.
05:57Thank you very much.
05:59You are right.
06:01When the other side
06:03criticizes you,
06:05I remember Mr. Shahbaz Sharif
06:07once said,
06:09Son, I don't want to answer Bilawal.
06:11Whatever I am doing to your father,
06:13corruption, looting,
06:15all this is just a statement.
06:17Your first answer is corruption.