Daily Times

Minister of State for Petroleum Division Dr. Musadiq Masood Malik said on Sunday that economic recovery was the first priority of the present government, the prices of commodities and other essential items would be reduced in the coming days.

Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club, he said that PDM government was standing with the poor, adding, “Our aim is to solve the problems of the poor.” The prices of food items and other essential items would start decreasing soon that would subsequently help reduce the hardships of the poor strata, he assured.

Malik said that government would soon reduce the gas and electricity tariff for common man, and they would be paying reduced gas and electricity bills as compared to the rich man.

He said that Imran Khan was sitting at his home and advising the children of the poor to be jailed. Imran Khan was true by saying that there were two Pakistans, one for the poor and the other for the rich, he said, citing that the bread thief was being punished and there was no questioning of thief, who stole diamonds and costly gifts, while the PML-N leadership was disqualified for not taking salary from his son. The PML-N leaders and workers had to endure great hardship and were imprisoned during PTI government, as Imran Khan had implicated his political opponents in false cases.

Musadiq Malik said that there was a Pakistan in which a person who took 450 kanals of land from Malik Riaz was now roaming freely and the person, who gave him the benefit of US $ 250 million assumed himself as the leader of this country. During his tenure, he mentioned, Imran Khan had benefited Arif Naqvi’s K-Electric Company by US $ 360 million, while the daughter was handcuffed and dragged to jail in front of her father in the dark of night. There was a Pakistan where there were costly brand cars, on the other hand the child of the poor was dying of hunger. “Yes, two countries have been made in one country, Pakistan of the rich and Pakistan of the poor, now the country of the weak and the strong will be separated. The government is standing with the poor and old Pakistan,” he maintained.

Malik said that the price of gas would be different for the poor and the rich, the price of gas would be lower for the poor and different for the rich areas. The gas tariff of 59 per cent of the people of the country had been reduced, when a rich person used 10 units of gas, he would pay three times the money and the poor would get the same amount of gas for less than half of that money. “We have also reduced the tariff for tea stall holder and if tea stall holder’s gas bill is Rs 800, the rich will have to pay the same gas bill at Rs 1800, while big hotels and tandoor (ovens) owners will also have to pay separate gas prices,” he disclosed.

He said that a unit of gas in Saudi Arabia costs two dollars, while in Qatar it costs three dollars, and in Bahrain, power and fertiliser companies pay four dollars, while in Pakistan, gas was being given for 70 cents to the rich and now this would not happen. “We are striving to get one to two billion dollars from the IMF, while rich people are importing cars worth the same amount,” he cited.

He said that the Prime Minister’s directive was to give as much new gas as possible to power sector, adding that one unit of electricity from LNG costs Rs26, which was borne by the common man, and if the same gas was given to the industry, it would be Rs60 per unit.