The Punjab government would provide Rs14 per unit relief in August and September bills to consumers using up to 500 units of electricity, PML-N supremo Nawaz Shari said on Friday.
“This is a huge relief. She [Maryam] has done this after cutting her government’s expenses from different sectors,” he said while addressing a press conference in Lahore. His daughter and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz accompanied him at the presser.
“Rs14 per unit will be cut from electricity bills and electricity bills will be readied and sent to the people. She has diverted funds worth Rs45 billion from the developmental budget to provide relief to the people,” he said.
The PML-N supremo has been seen at every top-level provincial government meeting, leading to concerns from the experts over the authority his daughter has on the matters.
His photo was also seen in the Ramazan relief packages. When asked, the Punjab CM defended it and admitted that all decisions were taken with the consent of Nawaz.
Nawaz acknowledged the three-month relief period for lifeline consumers of electricity whose consumption remains below 200 units per month, which was announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month.
The government has claimed to have given a discount of Rs50 billion to the electricity lifeline consumers in July, August and September. For three months, 25 million consumers in the country would benefit from the government’s relief. Moreover, the move would benefit “94 per cent of the country’s domestic consumers” of electricity.
Earlier this month, the premier acknowledged that people using 200 to 500 units of electricity were also under the burden of high power prices and added the federal government was considering providing relief to them.
Nawaz praised her daughter after announcing the decision, saying that the government had managed to do what it could.
He went on to add that Punjab CM Maryam was about to bring a solar panel scheme under which people would provide such a facility that would further help decrease their electricity bills.
“She has formed a programme to spend Rs1,700 billion on the solar panel for poor people and lower middle class, and middle-class people,” Nawaz said.
In July, the Punjab cabinet approved the “Roshan Gharana” programme under which people using up to 200 units could get free solar panels while those using up to 500 units would receive solar panels on a 10 per cent payment. The Punjab government would pay 90 per cent of the total amount for solar panels.
The interest-free loan would be provided to power consumers on a five-year instalment plan.
Nawaz urged his younger brother to support the provincial government in promoting solar panels. He also advised other provinces to create such opportunities for the people of their provinces.
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At the presser, the PML-N supremo shared that he has been asking the premier and the Punjab CM to bring down inflation, which according to him started in former premier Imran Khan’s tenure.
He reiterated his demand for the accountability of those who caused “such economic situation in the country.”
The former prime minister stated that he would share more details in other press conferences. He added that he would remain in touch with the media in any form amid concerns over his absence from media and assembly.
