LAHORE (Dunya News) – The energy ministry seems to have hoodwinked Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on the issue of relief to electricity consumers by excluding those who have three-phase meters installed at their houses.
The chief minister had announced a Rs14 per unit relief to the small consumers who use between 201 and 500 units a month. She did not differentiate between consumers having single phase and three phase meters and announced the relief across the board.
The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) also confirmed that the chief minister had announced relief for all.
However, the energy ministry gave relief to consumers using single phase meters in August.
LESCO sources said only 600,000 customers having single phase were given relief while the others were ignored. A large number of consumers who were unaware of the “fact” have been visiting LESCO offices daily to claim the relief but to no avail.
NAWAZ SHARIF'S PRESSER
In the third week of August, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif announced a relief of Rs14 per unit for households consuming up to 500 units of electricity.
The relief had been offered for August and September.
The former premier spoke at a presser where he was flanked by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. He said the masses had been suffering a lot due to inflation.
He said he shed light on the rising cost of living during his Oct 21 speech at Minar-e-Pakistan.
The PML-N president said, “I feel the problems faced by the people over the power bills and it merits mentioning 2017 when inflation and the power bills were extremely low.”
He said his ouster from power in 2017 was not on merit and he had only faced victimisation by the powers that be.
Without mentioning the name, he said the IMF had been brought into the country by the one who is in prison.
He also urged the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister to make all-out efforts for reducing inflation and ensuring ease in the lives of the masses.