generating surplus electricity,” he stressed.
He added that the route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was diverted towards Punjab ignoring the underdeveloped parts of KP.The minister said: “We believe in protecting the national interest. We never adopted the policy to stop electricity supply to other provinces, though Punjab stops supply of wheat whenever it wants. We are also part of Pakistan and it can only be strengthened when all the federating units are stable.”
Mushtaq Ghani said that the three smaller provinces - Sindh, Balochistan and KP - were annoyed as the federal government was focusing on the development of Punjab only.The minister demanded restoration of the previous route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, an end to loadshedding and formation of a joint committee comprising Peshawar Electric Supply Company and parliamentary leaders of the political parties to pinpoint electricity theft in the province and other related problems.
Quoting the chief minister, Mushtaq Ghani said the provincial government would withdraw security from Wapda installations and would not allow provision of electricity transformers if the injustice with it was not stopped.
He asked the federal government to authorise the KP government to sign agreements with international companies to build dams and produce electricity.The minister asked other political parties to join the protest instead of making tall claims.
Finance Minister Muzaffar Said stated that the federal government owed Rs653 billion to KP under the head of its share from net hydel-generation profits.He said the federal government was not giving funds to KP under the Public Sector Development Programme.
He demanded chairmanship of the Planning Commission on rotation basis to end the sense of deprivation among smaller provinces. This province, he said, had been hosting the Afghan refugees and IDPs since long but the federal government was not taking these problems seriously.
The minister said the deteriorating law and order in Fata would directly affect KP. He added that the federal government was not allowing KP to exercise the right after the 18th Amendment to sign agreements with other countries to generate electricity.
He added that long hours of loadshedding had badly affected life and business in KP. “The provincial government has been compelled to resort to protests,” he complained.Replying to a question, Mushtaq Ghani said KP was not making the China Pakistan Economic Corridor controversial, but the federal government did so by changing its route. “We will force the government to change its decision,” he said. He told a questioner that the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had always conspired to destabilise Pakistan.The minister said the protest was not linked to the PTI or the JI as all the political parties had been asked to join it to secure the rights for the province.