SWABI: Swabi Action Committee (SAC) on Monday staged a sit-in outside the deputy commissioner’s office to press for provision of discounted electricity to the people, an end to excessive power outages, overbilling and fines.

The committee’s leaders vowed to continue the sit-in till their demands were met.

People belonging to various regions reached the venue of the protest. During the sit-in, the traffic remained suspended on the Swabi-Topi Road from 10am till filing this report at 4pm.

Despite hectic efforts of the traffic police to divert the traffic flow to the Swabi city, the road remained clogged.

The SAC’s other demands include eradication of drug menace, which is harming youth, and arresting the deteriorating law and order situation in the district.

Salim Khan Advocate, former Awami National Party provincial general secretary, who is SAC spokesperson, blasted the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s ministers and parliamentarians from Swabi for ‘failing’ to support their demands.

“The demands we have made are not ours, they are of people. PTI lawmakers, who were voted to power by the people, have failed to come up to their expectations,” he regretted.

Salim Khan said PTI leaders were not interested in people’s welfare. “They just make tall claims of working for people’s uplift during the election time to get votes,” he claimed.

Later, the protesters held talks with the deputy commissioner and other officials but without any result. The administration officials asked the protesters to give them two days so they could take up their demands with the provincial authorities, but the people didn’t budge, and decided to stay on the roads.

“The district administration has no powers to meet our demands. The power lies with the provincial and federal governments to take practical steps to solve our problems,” said Salim Khan.

Earlier, SAC leaders decided that the participants of the sit-in would go to their homes for the night and return early next day, but as the talks with the district administration didn’t produce any results, they decided that the protesters would stay put outside the deputy commissioner’s office till meeting of the demands.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024