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| October 29, 2002 | Tuesday | Sha’aban 22,1423 |
Mass protest against high power tariff
MULTAN, Oct 28: The Powerlooms Association and the general public staged a rally here on Monday in protest against increase in power rates.
Last Monday, hundreds of people belonging to the powerloom sector had observed a day-long hunger strike, and announced that they would take out a protest procession on Oct 28.
Besides powerloom owners and workers, a large number of people from all corners of the city also thronged Manzoorabad Chowk to raise a collective voice against high power rates. Soon the gathering assumed the form of a rally and started marching towards the Ghanta Ghar Chowk. When the front-runners reached the Ghanta Ghar Chowk, the protesting concourse was longing to the Daulat Gate.
The protesters chanted slogans against the government and Wapda for what they said almost making impossible for the majority of the population to use electricity due to its sky-rocketing spiral in per unit cost.
Prominent among the participants were association president Muneer Husain Ansari, secretary-general Khaliq Qandeel, MPA-elect Nafees Ahmad Ansari, PPP leader Malik Mukhtar Ahmad, former minister Allama Hamid Saeed Kazmi and Pakistan Traders Alliance chairman Khwaja Shafiq.
Speakers said the powerloom association had no political ambition as its struggle was only against unjustified power tariff. They said if the authorities did not pay any heed to what they termed ‘Wapda rules’, the movement would soon be launched in length and breadth of the country.
They alleged the Wapda authorities time and again raised power rates only to meet the perks of its bureaucracy.
The powerloom owners have come out on roads after the levy of Rs1,000 fixed income tax and Rs360 electricity tax per month besides the fuel surcharge and additional surcharge on power bills. Meanwhile, the local bodies have also imposed a number of taxes on the powerloom sector, causing an increase in their cost of production.
The association leader announced that a public meeting would be held on Nov 3 at Ansari Chowk of Shah Rukn-i-Alam Colony followed by a complete strike by powerlooms.
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