Pakistan caretaker PM calls inflated electricity bills “non-issue”

Pakistan Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul-Haq-Kakar called the matter of inflated electricity bills, which have led to the countrywide protests, a "non-issue"

Islamabad: Pakistan Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul-Haq-Kakar called the matter of inflated electricity bills, which have led to the countrywide protests, a “non-issue”, Dawn News reported on Saturday.

Kakar also said it was raised by some political parties and was a ‘tool’ in their election campaigns.

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“It is not a very serious issue, but political parties are in election mode and using it as a social cause,” the interim prime minister told senior journalists and news anchors on Friday.

“I realise their position. If I were to contest the election, I would have followed the same as well,” he added.As per the Dawn News, the caretaker PM also claimed that the security forces are not using a single unit of free electricity and are paying their bills with the allocated financial budget.

He added that the Wapda employees were using free electricity units and their usage would be rationalised, especially for higher-grade officers, some of whom are getting huge amounts of free electricity. More people are joining the nationwide protest every day against excessive electricity prices. Locals have been taking to the streets and even burning currency notes in protest, ARY News reported.

Protests against the exorbitant electricity prices have spread across the entire nation  from Karachi to Khyber and some protests are now turning violent.

People in Karachi demonstrated against the excessive bills that K-Electric, the city’s only electricity provider, gave out. People expressed their displeasure that their bills exceeded their salaries, according to ARY News, a news channel that operates in Pakistan.

A large number of people demonstrated in Peshawar, with locals declaring that they will not remain silent in the face of this “injustice.”Additionally, traders from Lahore Square and Ganj Bazaar set fire to power bills to vent their fury.

At Committee Chowk in Rawalpindi, protesters gathered and burned electricity bills, raising slogans against the government.

Protesters in Gujranwala besieged the Gujranwala Electric Power Company office in an effort to draw attention to the inflated tariff issue.

Other cities such as Narowal, Attock, Sargodha, and Haripur, too, saw demonstrations against rising electricity costs.