On the night of 31st October 2009 at 00:00 hours, the clocks were reversed back to the original Pakistan standard time (PST). This was the third experiment in Pakistan, using foul means to save energy. The experiment bitterly failed, giving no relief to the people. The Ministry of Water and Power sources claimed that the country saved 250 MW electricity per day.
It was a sheer hoax. There was no energy saving by this wrong practice. This practice, in fact, created a lot of confusion in the public's mind. School going children, particularly small kids, were badly affected. Baboos sitting in the bureaucracy enjoyed the fruits of the change of time as they came late on duty, on the previous time, but left the office one-hour earlier as permitted by this day light saving programme.
There were no visible signs of energy saving as the people continued to suffer long hours of load shedding in the summer. Factories and offices including commercial activities remained closed during load shedding hours. Exports declined, unemployment increased and the country faced the worst financial crisis.
There have been public protests on the change of time, but the people's government does not respect the people's sentiments. The government in power, instead of changing itself to produce enough electricity to meet the demand, is constantly playing with the clock in futility.