Federal govt unable to implement energy conservation plan

• Federal government was unable to implement energy conversation plan
• Sindh Home Dept has also been issued written instructions
• Punjab, KP governments have rejected the energy plan

ISLAMABAD: The federal government failed to implement the energy conservation plan regarding the early closure of markets and wedding halls to reduce the consumption of electricity in the country.

The federal government announced new closing hours for wedding halls, markets and restaurants in a bid to conserve energy and reduce consumption. Despite the directives, the energy conservation plan is yet to be implemented in Islamabad and other parts of the country.

While Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have rejected the proposal to reduce working hours, the Sindh government has not yet received any written directives on the new energy plan and early closure of businesses.

The Sindh Home Department held a meeting and said it has not been issued any directives from the Interior Ministry regarding the energy conservation plan. It said the notification cannot be issued in Sindh without written instructions.

Energy conservation plan

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the federal government approved the National Energy Conservation Plan under which markets and shopping malls would close by 8:30 PM, while wedding halls will be shut down by 10 PM.

The defence minister said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed the concerned authorities to cut the usage of electricity by all departments of the federal government by 30%. T

He said the prime minister, also ordered the officials against unnecessary consumption of electricity in the offices. The government has also banned the usage of inefficient appliances that would save the country around Rs62 billion annually, he added.

Asif said that the government was implementing a programme to reduce electricity consumption in fans. He announced that the factories producing fans run on electricity will be halted.

He said that all government institutions would install efficient devices to save electricity. The minister also announced that e-bikes would be introduced countrywide.

Asif also announced that the cabinet had directed the formation of a committee to submit a report on the implementation of the Work from Home (WFH) system in offices.

Khawaja Asif announced that the federal government would finalise the plan after consultations with the rest of the provinces. He said that a federal government delegation visited provinces to speak on the matter. The committee also met President Arif Alvi last week.

Punjab, KP rejects plan

Meanwhile, the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments have refused to comply with the federal government’s energy conservation plan.

Punjab senior minister Mian Aslam Iqbal said that the provincial government will formulate its own energy conservation policy after consulting with all stakeholders including traders.

He said the Punjab government will not implement the conservation policy as it was announced by the PML-N-led government in haste.

The Punjab minister said that the economic condition had already deteriorated while the decisions of the ‘imported government’ will not be accepted by the Punjab government.

KP government information adviser Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif said the federal government did not consult the provincial government on the energy conservation plan.

He said the KP government is already taking several measures to save and has taken steps to eliminate environmental pollution. He said the provincial government had not taken any decision regarding the implementation on the federal government’s policy.

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