PA seeks continuous supply of 650MW to Karachi

Karachi
The provincial assembly unanimously passed on Tuesday another resolution urging the federal government to continue providing the K-Electric, Karachi’s power utility, with 650MW from the national grid.
The resolution adopted this time was a private one presented by Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Khalid Ahmed.
On January 27, the assembly had unanimously adopted a resolution presented by senior education minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro asking the federal government not to discontinue the supply of 650MW from National Transmission and Dispatch Company to Karachi.
The federal water and power ministry is yet to decide whether the agreement for the 650MW bulk power supply from the national grid to K-Electric should be renewed or not.
Interestingly, the rules of the Sindh Assembly procedure do not allow the passage of a resolution, whether it is a private one or presented by the treasury side, on a subject on which a resolution had already been adopted. But on this instance, speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani did not object to the tabling and consideration of a second resolution on the same subject.
The resolution read: “This House resolves and recommends that the Government of Sindh should approach the federal government to ensure uninterrupted supply of 650MW from the national grid to the K-Electric irrespective of any past agreement.”
Speaking on the resolution, energy and finance minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) should not have sent notices to the K-Electric indicating that the latter did not need the 650MW from the national grid because of its capacity.
The minister said apparently the problems in the country’s power sector had started after Nepra was formed in 1997 as the country had surplus energy till the end of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s tenure in 1996.
“The surplus energy in the country had lasted till 2006, and afterwards the power outages started,” he added.
Shah said the incumbent provincial government was taking steps to set up its own power plants in Nooriabad and Tharparkar. Besides, he added, the K-Electric was also setting up new power units. “But until these new plants become operational, the federal government should continue providing 650MW to Karachi from the national grid,” he added.
Shah said the chief minister had already taken up the issue with the Centre by writing a letter to the prime minister on January 1.
PPP MPA Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said Nepra should sign agreements with prospective power producers in the province as they could generate electricity at cheaper rates.
Other PPP lawmakers criticised the federal government for subjecting the towns and villages of Sindh to hours-long power outages every day.
MQM MPAs said the 650MW from the national grid was essential for Karachi’s commercial and daily life activities.
Earlier, the House unanimously adopted a private resolution presented by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Nand Kumar, urging the provincial government to ensure the implementation of the five percent quota in government jobs for minorities.
Speaking on the resolution, ministers Jam Mahtab Hussin Dahar, Mukesh Kumar Chawla, Gayan Chand Essrani and Jam Khan Shoro said the provincial government had provided many more jobs to members of the minority communities than the five percent quota.
Opposition minority lawmakers Ponjo Bheel, Diwan Chand Chawla and Nand Kumar maintained that the benefits of five percent quota were not being extended to the qualified and education youth of the scheduled castes in the province.

PAC chairperson
The House also rejected through a majority vote a private resolution by opposition leader Shaharyar Khan Mahar of the PML-F that called for the appointment of the chairpersons of the public accounts committee of the national and provincial assemblies by the leader of opposition in light of the provisions of the Charter of Democracy signed by the late PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 2006.
Mahar said the federal government had ensured the appointment of the PAC chairperson in accordance with the charter as the leader of the opposition Khursheed Ahmed Shah was the committee’s chief.
However, he added, in Sindh the PPP had appointed its own party member as the PAC chairman.
Education minister Khuhro said the rules of the Sindh Assembly’s procedures did not permit the appointment of the PAC chairman by the leader of the opposition.
The assembly also rejected with a majority vote another private resolution, presented by PML-F’s Nusrat Seher Abbasi.
It called upon the provincial government to ensure the promotion of doctors at public hospitals in accordance with the service rules. Health minister Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar said he had to oppose the resolution as the process of promoting doctors had already started.