ISLAMABAD: Pressing hard for adopting austerity measures, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said his government wanted to give subsidies to the masses, but it was unable to do so due to an unprecedented debt burden.

The government was giving around Rs100 billion subsidy to 91 per cent gas consumers while gas worth Rs50bn was being stolen annually, PM Khan said and ordered a countrywide crackdown on gas theft.

The prime minister again lashed out at the opposition for putting the country under heavy debt. “The corrupt opposition leaders had no fear while committing corruption during last 10 years because they had availed deals under two National Reconciliation Ordinances (NROs) to save their skin,” he said while speaking at a ceremony to launch Railway Live Tracking System and Thal Express service at PM Office.

Reacting to his remarks, the opposition said deals had been offered to Mr Khan’s sister Aleema Khan and other “corrupt” leaders in the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

The prime minister said due to faulty policies of the previous rulers, the country had been paying Rs6 billion interest on loans on a daily basis. “Under these circumstances, how can we provide subsidy on Haj?” he said in an apparent reference to the criticism of the government’s decision to withdraw the subsidy.

Imran defends government decision to withdraw Haj subsidy, says under austerity scheme Nehari and Pai servings have been stopped at PM Office

Highlighting the need for austerity, Mr Khan said as part of austerity measures he had stopped Nehari and Pai servings at PM Office. “Now only tea is served there. Those who have put the country under heavy burden of debt are now asking why the government does not provide a Haj subsidy or make performing the Islamic ritual more affordable?” he said, adding that if the previous government had not caused the debt crisis, the PTI-led government would have been sending people for Haj for free. He also said that if the government was to spend money on subsidies, it could provide it to cancer and hepatitis patients or out-of-school children.

He directed railways minister Sheikh Rashid to look into corruption and theft that had taken place in the railways and present the cases to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

While chairing a meeting on gas crisis, PM Khan directed the authorities concerned to launch a crackdown against gas theft that he said was estimated to be around worth Rs50bn annually.

No leniency would be given in case of unaccounted for gas (UFG), he said, adding that the performance of heads of gas companies would be evaluated from the stoppage of UFG.

The prime minister was briefed about the complaints of inflated gas bills. He was informed that despite the costly contracts for buying imported gas and other expenditures, merely 12 to 35pc increase had been made in the bills of 91pc consumers.

Opposition reaction

Reacting to his remarks about opposition parties, spokesperson for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Marriyum Aurangzeb said the country was suffering because of the “incompetence, lies and failures” of the government.

She said Mr Khan should have had the moral courage to apologize from the nation over “his unending monstrous lies”. He must “apologize for ranting against NROs while granting mother of all NROs to the custodian of his illegal wealth Aleema Khan; he must apologise for his suicide over IMF rambling and then shamelessly begging before the IMF,” she added.

She said the prime minister should seek the nation’s pardon for rendering thousands of people jobless contrary to the promised 10 million jobs. He should also apologize for doubling the rate of inflation and increasing the cost of electricity and gas by three-folds.

“Beg for forgiveness from those whose livelihoods you demolished to the ground while legalizing your encroachment palace at Banigala; for lying about 200 billion dollar of illegal wealth of Pakistani politicians that you lied about; tell the people you lied about Rs300 billon money laundering every year that you said will pay all foreign debt of Pakistan; apologize for tripling the foreign debt by devaluing rupee by 37 per cent and most important of all apologize to the country for robbing peoples mandate to erect the fake government,” the PML-N spokesperson said.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2019