The lawmakers traced lack of coordination among the related companies and departments in the energy sector and also blamed the menace of corruption for the woes of the power sector, besides mismanagement and mis-governance.
Senator Faraz pointed out that the circular debt has rendered the national economy its hostage, as there is increase in it with each passing moment. He said that the previous government paid Rs 480 billion to end circular debt, whereas the actual figure of the debt was Rs 585 billion, which has now reached Rs 1.2 trillion.
He said that electricity load shedding is a reality and wondered why truth was not spoken to the nation in Pakistan. He noted that during the last five years, attention was paid to power generation only but in the process no attention was paid to legislation and implementation of laws. "Out of Rs 100, Rs 66 are recovered and the rest becomes part of circular debt," he maintained.
The report, he noted, has identified all the problems and suggested their solutions as well. He said it is quite surprising that there are extreme kinds of problems in power companies and KESCO, PESCO and QESCO are among those facing so many problems. He said that Rs 183 billion of QESCO are outstanding, as recoveries could not be made.
Quoting from the report, he said that thermal was 63 percent of the total power generation and if the oil prices go up, cost of the electricity would also go up accordingly, leaving the government with two options: to increase power tariff or give subsidy thereon. He noted this was wastage of significant chunk of the foreign exchange while referring to oil imports.
Senator Faraz said that a policy of renewable energy was announced in November 2017 but its implementation was stopped. Senators Kauda Babar, Behramand Tangi, Rukhsana Zuberi and Ameer Kabir advocated concrete measures to stop pilferage of electricity and rampant corruption from lineman to the chief. They also called for introduction of the latest technology in energy sector.
Senator Babar said where people of the power sector live, no bill is served on them while an employee of Wapda not only enjoys free electricity but he also supplies it to 10-15 consumers in the neighbourhood without paying a penny.
Senator Zuberi said that investment must be made on modern technology in the energy sector, pointing out that countries like Britain and Germany have switched over to solar energy. On the suggestion from Leader of Opposition Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani agreed that there would a debate in the House on the circular debt and energy sector on Tuesday (today).
Earlier, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said visa problems being faced by Pakistani citizens living in Kuwait would be taken up with Kuwaiti authorities to address problems of overseas Pakistanis. She explained that the matter is to figure in a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his Kuwaiti counterpart on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.
Responding to a calling attention notice by Senator Muhammad Azam Swati in the Senate, the minister said this issue would also be taken up on priority during a two-day Pak-Kuwait Joint Ministerial Commission scheduled to be held in Islamabad on Thursday.
She pointed out that Kuwait in 2011 had unofficially banned visas to the nationals of various countries, which include Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran on the pretext of their alleged involvement in drug trafficking and criminal offences. Mazari said that on the other hand, Indian citizens are getting visas in large number.
Responding to another calling attention notice by Sana Jamali and Kalsoom Perveen, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad said the government is focusing on the development of Balochistan to bring the province at par with other federating units.
He denied that a UNDP report had declared Balochistan as the poorest province in the world, conceding the largest province was the most backward in Pakistan among the four federating units. He added previous governments had tried to lift the standard of people there and the incumbent government would also accord priority to bring it at par with other provinces.
The movers called for tangible short-term and long-term measures to push the province out of backwardness. They even called for declaring emergency in the province, which possesses precious natural resources but is the most backward.
Opening debate on the motion with regards to the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Bill, 2018, PML-N Senator Abdul Qayyum counted achievements of the previous government and the things, which it could not do. He also floated some proposals, which included launching of efforts for debt rescheduling, as was done in 2002 with 15 countries, the World Bank, IMF and Paris Club, which offered $12 billion with zero interest payments for initial 15 years.
He also proposed immediate privatization of the state-owned enterprises that were constantly adding to the financial burden or a system be evolved for their effective governance. The senator also maintained that the formulation of the Economic Advisory Council would only bear fruit if headed by an economist and its members' recommendations are heeded to.
PML-Functional Senator Syed Muzafar Hussain Shah advocated compensation to farmers who had suffered due to non-availability of enough water in Rabi and Kharif seasons. He also called for giving support price to growers of cotton, sugarcane, wheat and some other crops, keeping in view their cost of production every year.
He said that there should be more spending on health, education and provision of clean drinking water to masses and provision of employment, which are forcing people to migrate to urban areas, leading to complications. Senator Shah also called for steps to turn the state entities into profit-making ones.
Senator Musadaq Malik of PML-N said that the budget presented by PML-N was meant for the poor and the downtrodden, while the mini-budget by ruling PTI is meant to facilitate the rich as well as land and auto mafias.