During a National Assembly Standing Committee on Energy meeting, Iqbal Afridi, a member from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, suggested imposing a Rs10,000 fee for meetings with former Prime Minister Imran Khan to help address local issues.
Chaired by Muhammad Idris, the meeting included officials from the Energy Ministry’s Power Division and Federal Energy Minister Sardar Awais Leghari. Afridi spoke about the severe electricity shortages in FATA, highlighting the hardships faced by tribal communities.
He emphasized the need for dedicated electricity provisions, mentioning that some areas wait up to a week for power, with others receiving it only every other week.
Power Division officials reported a budget of Rs. 65 billion for FATA this year, with Rs. 39 billion allocated for free electricity distribution.
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They mentioned that 410,000 domestic consumers in FATA currently receive up to four hours of electricity daily.
Afridi, associated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), criticized the lack of progress in resolving FATA’s electricity issues, stating that not even one billion of the allocated funds had been effectively used.
He suggested imposing a Rs10,000 tax on meetings with Imran Khan to generate funds to solve these problems. After making his remarks, Afridi left the meeting.
