LARKANA: Sindh-Balochi-stan Rice Millers and Traders Association has decided not to pay electricity bills to SEPCO, HESCO and QESCO as a protest against high increase in fixed charges in the mills’ bills.

The association met at its offices here on Saturday with its president Qamaruddin Gopang in the chair to discuss the one-point agenda of increase in power tariff.

Asad Ali Tunio, general secretary of the association told Dawn that the increase in ‘fixed charges’ in electricity bills was a cruel decision made under a conspiracy. Not only was this but load per vehicle was also reduced from 25 to 15 tonnes axel load, he said.

He said that Haji Aslam Soomro from Balochistan and Farooq Ahmed Chhipa from lower Sindh were taken into confidence prior to taking the boycott decision. The meeting developed consensus and it was finally decided to boycott paying electricity bills of the mills, he said.

He said that future line of action would be unveiled at a press conference to be held at Karachi Press Club on Aug 27. If parleys with the quarters concerned were to remain inconclusive, then the millers would march on Islamabad to press for the acceptance of their demands, he said.

The meeting decided to file a constitutional petition in court and also approach NEPRA by submitting a review application, said Mr Tunio, adding the rice millers were asked to submit their electricity bills in their respective taluka headquarters.

He said that a conspiracy was being hatched to destroy rice industry, which earned over Rs4 billion foreign exchange. Inexperienced planners were designing such policies that would surely affect the industry that had been a big support to thousands of people connected with it, he said.

Presently, there were 4,000 rice mills in Sindh and Balochistan and each mill employed about 40 to 50 labourers, he said. With the closure of rice mills in both the provinces it would render thousands of workers jobless and would also have negative impact on peasants’ economic condition, he said.

He said the increase in tariff per kilowatt charges from Rs440 to Rs1,250 would be tantamount to damaging the rice industry drastically. The rice mills remained operational only for six months and closed for half a year and the current electricity bill swelled to Rs300,000 from Rs3,000, he claimed and added “we reserve the right to protest constitutionally”.

The association appealed to prime minister to take notice of the current problems and other issues of rice millers and grant them audience, he said. The reluctance of federal government’s representatives to talk to them would compel the organisation to go for a consistent protest campaign, including the march on Islamabad, he said.

Millers’ representatives from Larkana, Ratodero, Badah, Qambar, Shahdadkot, Mirokhan, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Thull, Mehar, Radhan, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and other areas participated in the meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024