PESHAWAR: Pakistan People’s party has rejected government’s decision to impose additional surcharge on electricity consumers and feared that the increase in power tariff will lead to unprecedented price hike.

PPP provincial president Muhammad Humayun Khan in a statement here on Sunday said that the power consumers were already facing multiple problems due to increase in the essential daily use commodities that Rs5.65 per unit increase would add to their miseries. He said the government overburdened the power consumers with an additional surcharge of Rs150 billion which was unaffordable, particularly for those having no permanent resource of income. This decision, he said, was tantamount to a power bomb which would affect the poor masses the most.

The PPP leader said that the price of petroleum products, medicines, gas and power tariff was increased frequently which directly affected the prices of daily use items.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan was in the habit of using derogatory language against opposition parties and doing nothing for welfare of the poverty-hit masses.

He said the government had bowed down before the international monetary fund (IMF), saying that the challenges would increase in the days to come. He said PPP would soon start protest demonstrations against the price hike to mobilize people in order to pave way for ousting the incompetent government.

Meanwhile, PPP has directed its workers to participate in the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to be held in Rawalpindi on April 4.

PPP Peshawar city president Zulfiqar Afghani has urged party office bearers to ensure participation of maximum activists in the event.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021