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Energy crisis: Punjab rejects two weekly holidays
Chief Minister says he was not consulted by the cabinet, K-P govt also reportedly unsure.
Chief Minister says he was not consulted by the cabinet, K-P govt also reportedly unsure.PHOTO: NNI/FILE
LAHORE:
The Punjab government has categorically stated it will not follow the federal government’s plans for two weekly holidays as a measure to conserve energy.
The proposal will now be forwarded to the Council of Common Interest (CCI) for approval. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif will attend the CCI session, in which the final decision will be taken. Sharif seems unlikely at present to go ahead with the plan, as he claims he was not consulted by the cabinet when the initial plan was formed.
Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan was adamant that the Punjab government would not obey the cabinet decision. He said that the CCI was the correct forum in which to discuss province-related issues, not the federal cabinet.
It has also been reported that the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is unsure about the cabinet’s decision. Awami National Party leader Haji Adeel said that the two holiday plan will not help conserve energy and that markets should be allowed to stay open till 10pm. Many voices from the Karachi business community have also criticised the decision. According to the 18th amendment to the constitution, provinces are not bound to follow every cabinet decision.
The federal cabinet on Wednesday proposed two holidays a week in order to conserve energy. The plan, recommended by the High Power Committee on Energy headed by Federal Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, was approved by the cabinet unanimously.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2011.
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Reader Comments (17)
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Silly issue for the opposition.
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And there goes the holiday
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Let the banks be closed as well on Saturdays then Every province will automatically be off on that day,, They do business through Banks, “Na Rahay ga Baans , Na rahay gee Bansuri.”
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The problem is that businessmen want everything in their favor. The business community should facilitate the Government in curbing the menace of loadshedding. It isnt Govt’s fault that markets open after 12:00pm, mid-day, in Karachi. Why dont these markets open at 9:00am and close at 6:00pm, as is the case with developed countries.
Why do the customers go late for shopping? saturday would provide an ideal opportunity for both the customers as well as businessmen for shopping etc.
Also, there is a clear double standard shown by business community as they themselves open their markets after 12:00pm and still they expect banks to be open at sharp 9:00am. Recommend
@Banker………… Nice Idea :)
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Well done, central governemt of Pakistan. Finally, the long awaited decision has come. Govt employees were were long waiting for it. All European contries, America, all Arab countries are already doing the same.
Thank you Prime Minister Gillani sahb.
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Good.
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@ Waqar: Thanks :)
@ Shehzad: Totally Agreed, They remained on their beds till noon and still say the banks should remain open to facilitate these double standard people. Most of the banks have half day on Saturday so its useless to make the banks open, as to the time the business community get ready to start their work the banks would be in process of closing their books, so don’t know why do they demand for this… ;(
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@malik74:
Even your neighbour India has two days weekend system
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He was not consulted? What is Mr. Sharif talking about? Sir, Council for Common Interests is supposed to be for consultation. Besides, so many times, you have backed out from your initial stance, like the RGST which you agreed to in the same CCI.
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He must be replaced by PTI.Recommend
Each any every person should be ready to bear such type of loss. Govt. employees are happy but losses of different types will appear from all corners such as business, education & health facilities, banking, stock exchange etc.
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Two weekly holidays is not the solution. On the contrary, we should work 12 hours every day of the week (Sunday should not be a holiday). This is what is required to bring the country back on the rails. Our people are already very lazy, giving them an extra holiday will make it worse. As for saving energy, power outages have stopped after the government paid eleven billion rupees to PSO. We have enough installed capacity, it’s only because government departments don’t pay their bills that causes the power outages. I have worked seventy two hours continuously at times (during the 1971 war and curfews/riots), I have worked when bombs were being dropped by the Indians at Keamari, and I did all this not for money but because I considered it my duty to serve the country. I know that most people today don’t like to work hard, but they will have to change their habits. Hard work alone will make us progress.
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Will the Govt. of sindh announce the same..?
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People who work on daily wages will get crushed if saturday is declared as holiday (even friday is a half day + ramadan revised timings). We have denfence day, Quaid day, eid ul fitar, eid ul azha, Benazir day, Iqbal day, rabi ul awal, Moharram, Juma tul wida, Pakistan day, Independence day, May day . Apart from these even few hours rain is declared as a holiday since roads get flooded with water not to mention the violence which keeps people away from work. So when do we work?
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I had heard that Fashions were Cyclical.
Now I see that energy conservation in Pakistan is also.
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They want to introduce two holidays per week to conserve energy. Shouldn’t they be taking measures to enhance the current supply because ultimately the demand will increase. What are they going to do in the summers, make it a three day work week?
Kar chuka Pakistan tarakee, Pakistan ka Allah Hafiz!
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