ISLAMABAD - In the 19th meeting of Council of Common Interest, addressing the complaints of provinces of uneven load shedding it was decided a Committee shall be constituted, headed by Minister for Water and Power and include Chief Secretary and a technical member from each province .
The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf at Prime Minister Secretariat on Wednesday.
The Terms of the reference of the Committee include recommendation of mechanisms to ensure equitable distribution of available electricity and measures for recovery of power dues. The Prime Minister directed the committee to put up its recommendations within one week.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Prime Minister recalled that the present crisis was due to the failure of previous government to add a single MW of generation capacity to the system. However, despite constraints, the present government was successful in adding 3300 MW to the national grid.
The members of Council of Common Interest discussed the issue of energy thread bare and discussed various aspects and complexities.
The meeting also approved the Petroleum Policy 2012 proposed by The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural resources.
An issue pertaining to the salaries of employees of Population Welfare that was devolved to provinces after the 18th amendment was also discussed. It was decided that Federal Secretary Planning and Federal Secretary Finance along with representatives of Provincial Governments will workout modalities to resolve the financial issues.
The Prime Minister appreciated the understanding and flexibility shown by Chief Ministers of Provinces in resolving to devise a mechanism for equitable distribution of electricity in the country, adding that this government was able to arrive at the 7th National Finance Award which will go a long way in strengthening the federation. He expressed the confidence that the energy challenge would also be resolved with the same spirit.
The Council of Common Interest passed a unanimous resolution proposed by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Shraif stating that “the meeting of Council of Common Interest expresses concern over the situation arising out of the shortage of electricity and consequent load shedding in the country and believes that efforts be made to resolve this crises in an effective and result oriented manner. The CCI therefore decides that in order to strengthen the federation and promote solidarity among the people of the country, a system for equitable distribution of electricity be devised in light of the decisions taken during the energy conferences held in Islamabad and Lahore.”
The prime minister also asked Shahbaz Sharif to leave the camp office.