WITH the addition of Rs28.6bn every month, the circular debt has again mounted to Rs286bn according to a news report. The finance ministry is paying a monthly subsidy of Rs25bn but power sector payables are likely to soar to Rs370bn by June 2014 … There has been an increase in electricity generation [during the ongoing fiscal] and the power tariff for industrial and commercial concerns was also revised in October 2013 … the phenomenal increase [in the circular debt] is a matter of wonder.

In order to overcome electricity shortage in the 1980s, the Benazir Bhutto government opted for oil-based IPPs. The short-term solution was a bit costly but it eliminated load-shedding for some time. Ironically, no attention was paid [by successive governments] to explore other sources.…

The government should now take up the matter seriously and take [concrete] measures to overcome the shortage by concentrating on hydel, solar and wind energy projects … taking the general public on board.

The government should assess the electricity requirement of every household and provide ... solar or wind power plants either free of cost or on subsidised rates … [W]ork on hydel power projects should also be initiated on a war-footing and electricity thus saved should be supplied to the industrial sector. It’s a pity that we are an atomic

power but do not have electricity even for our homes... — (April 18)

Selected and translated by Zaheer Mahmood Siddiqui.