KARACHI Sept 26 (TNS): Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) PS-112 MPA Khurrum Sher Zaman again slammed the School’s Education Department (SED) for non-payment of electricity bills leading to a number of schools in Karachi having to operate in the dark.
Mr. Sher Zaman pointed out that in his constituency of PS-112; K-E has disconnected power supply of Qurtaba Primary Government School near Pak-Turk School in Shireen Jinnah Colony for last 3 months due to non-payment of bills. Children and teachers are suffering unnecessarily due to the neglect and non-seriousness of SED.
The problem is not just with only one school in Karachi without electricity. According to news media reports, more than 50% of government schools in this mega city are without electricity due to the provincial government failing to allocate funds in the budget for clearance of arrears for the last five years.
Back in March of this year, K-E disconnected the electricity supply of 1457 schools of Karachi's region, as the schools were liable to pay Rs 234.8 million to the utility on the account of electricity.
Mr. Sher Zaman expressed outrage and bewilderment that the Sindh Education Department has a budget allocation of around Rs. 181.5 billion for 2017-18, an increase of 13% from last fiscal year but cannot pay electricity bills of Rs. 235 million to ensure all schools in Karachi have electricity.
The PS-112 MPA demanded that the Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Education Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar take immediate action to rectify this reprehensible situation.
