Electricity Bills Continue to Claim Lives

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: People have come out in great numbers as what they are earning is far less than what they are supposed to pay in the form of electricity bills dispatched by power companies, especially in recent months.

They have died, they have cried and they are miserable as there is no one to address their complaints. The protestors include everyone from all walks of life. The disabled are on the road, mutes are making physical gestures using sign language and transgender people are also on the road. What remains inside is the powerful elite that has robbed Pakistan of its peace and prosperity.

The lists are there but these ‘protected people’ who have robbed Pakistan of its riches remain unnamed and unearthed as they have the whole of Pakistan in their pockets.

The widespread protests in Pakistan made the government call an emergency meeting with the caretaker Prime Minister sitting in the chair to discuss ways to give relief to the masses who have come out angrily against the utility providers.

“This has never happened… We were able to sustain ourselves. It was difficult even then but now it is beyond our reach,” said one person who sold his daughter’s gold earrings to pay the bill.

A mother of four jumped in the river as there was nothing to feed her children. After paying the bill, there was nothing left for food.

The rescue services received calls where people asked for food because they were hungry. The expressions of the poor in the woeful videos depict how the plunderers of Pakistan made this nation of 220 million people who had their heads held high not long ago.

There has also been a report about two brothers having an altercation over excessive bills that resulted in one brother killing the other and being later found wailing on his dead body.

This is happening in Pakistan, where the service providers have been so callous in their approach that it is forcing people to commit suicide.

Political Parties’ Somersaults

There has been a reaction to this excessive billing as well, where people, besides burning their bills, walk towards the offices and burn them to ashes, and the police are protecting the building before it is burned down.

The repressive tool of making life miserable for the majority of the masses has also raised alarms for workers who have been assigned the job to drop the bills. At many places, the staff was beaten and the bills torn. People are also protecting their property, which is the meter, which is installed with all money paid up front, while the rent that is charged and mentioned in the bill is now being questioned.

There are a few questions raised by the commoner for the authority as now the bills are being scrutinised in the public eye. The masses are already in a sour mood as the service provider, which has outgrown the size of a ‘white elephant’ to a gigantic ‘dinosaur, has questions for authority as to under what provisions the employees of the company get free electricity amounting to billions of rupees which is directly placed on ordinary citizens.

These illegitimate perks should now end and the same goes for the facilities provided to others in various sectors who, without any thought, mercilessly use and abuse public resources.

The move is there to increase the pay of the public service sector, including those who use official vehicles and destroy them without a thought while their own cars are in mint and prime condition.

The public says if they want to sit in the official car, they should buy it and as a provision, they should get the money for the vehicle deducted from their salaries, so the junkyard in government departments will no longer exist where only theft prevails.

The angry public now has a list of questions for WAPDA and the sooner it is addressed, the better, as failing to do so may result in consequences that could be disastrous, resulting in fatalities.

The few questions for the authorities concerned are: if the bill is paid, what is the tax on it? The fuel adjustment charges, the duty on electricity, the duty on the units that are paid, the fee for the television while the majority use cable, the bills are paid monthly as are the quarterly adjustment charges, extra charges on what, and what is a further charge.

The public sentiment can be gauged by the fact that one angry person stated that the only charge they should add and should stand at the top of the list is an extra charge to bury this dinosaur, and we as the whole of Pakistan will gladly dig its (WAPDA) grave and contribute to it.

The common man is unaware that stately decisions are made without having the public in mind and even if they want to give some relief, the dire situation calls for drastic measures. The International Monetary Fund terms and conditions that the government of Pakistan has signed on the whole are viewed by the common man as pledging the future of the ‘state’.

The way out is simple: the public is making demands; the privileged class faces the brunt, and their perks should be removed once and for all as the service that is done by them has resulted in Pakistan being faced with this situation that has never happened before.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues. 

The article is the writer’s opinion, it may or may not adhere to the organization’s editorial policy.