A system of democracy stands as a fundamental means to empower people. “Power to the people, by the people, for the People” is the slogan that democracy chants. The democracy that we live in knows only one out of the above mentioned three parts of the slogan, that being “power by the people”. With a population as vast as the one we have, a power generation capacity of 19,505 Megawatts, as per 2007 authenticated figures, just doesn’t cut it. The end result is widespread load shedding that affects households and industries alike.
To further worsen situations, the government has a very consistent habit of privatizing key public sector institutions. Before I comment any further, let me just state that the basic function of public sector enterprise is to provide services to people without singularly focusing on profit maximization, instead, providing relief and welfare to the masses. And this is why, the sectors of energy, health and education are responsibilities of the state, because if these institutions were to function with the sole and primary purpose of making profits, the essence behind their functioning, that being providing welfare, is lost. Profit maximization and welfare are seldom anything but mutually exclusive. After the privatization of the KESC (Karachi Electric Supply Company), the problem has gone a step further. The problem took another turn for the worst when irregularities were found by the Auditor General of Pakistan in the above mentioned privatization of KESC. Continuous intermittent increases in power tariffs and rampant voltage fluctuations continue to add misery to the citizens of the Metropolis that used to be called The City of Lights.
As if the current ongoing crises that the power sector is facing weren’t enough, the government, under the Ministry of Water & Power, decided to embark on yet another audacious adventure, that of installing Rental Power Plants. If an optimistic reader were to accidentally think that these power plants would be really efficient, cost effective and state-of-the-art, let me be the first to bring you out of the bubble you are in by telling you that not only the critics in Pakistan have said so, but so has the Asian Development Bank that rental power plants are not suitable for Pakistan nor are they cost effective. 14 rental power plants are in the process of being set up and will commence power generation shortly. However, some of these are second hand power plants, some with manufacturing dates as old as 1992. Their effectiveness and efficiency, in conclusion, is debatable, as is the current affairs of the current government. 