PESHAWAR
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance and health minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Monday criticised the federal government for what he termed “inflation bombs” imposed on the public under the pretext of war.
Addressing a press conference at the Peshawar Press Club (PPC), Mr Jhagra said the government had increased petroleum prices overnight, benefiting oil companies by billions of rupees, and later reduced prices following public backlash.
He said the PTI supported peace efforts regarding tensions between Iran and the United States, but alleged that even prior to the conflict, the government had burdened citizens with rising inflation.
Mr Jhagra demanded that PTI founder Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi be shifted to a hospital for medical treatment in accordance with international laws.
Criticising the government’s economic management, he alleged that development funds had been cut across departments, including for merged districts, while no reduction had been made in the prime minister’s parliamentary schemes, which he claimed cost Rs70 billion.
He also highlighted disparities in electricity load-shedding, claiming that while outages lasted around two-and-a-half hours in Islamabad and four hours in Punjab, they extended up to 12 hours in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The PTI leader further alleged that funds allocated for the erstwhile Fata had yet to be released to the province.
He criticised the imposition of taxes on solar energy and said the government was discouraging citizens from reducing their electricity consumption. He added that authorities had introduced net metering measures but were now objecting to reduced power usage.
Mr Jhagra also questioned the government’s preparedness, alleging that despite being aware of regional tensions, it had failed to maintain adequate fuel reserves.
