PESHAWAR: Caught between a rock and a hard place, Muallim Khan, a resident of the Dakka area in Afghanistan, says that he can neither visit a hospital in the capital nor seek treatment in neighboring Pakistan.
This is because a notification issued by Peshawar earlier this week bars the entry of Afghan nationals into Pakistan during the first 10 days of Muharram. Around 3,000 Afghan nationals cross the border for reasons of employment and medical treatment every day – a number that will see a massive decline due to the new regulation.
At the receiving end are people like Khan, 55, who says that despite undergoing surgery in Peshawar, he has been unable to return for a checkup that’s long overdue. “The worst part is that we cannot even go to Kabul because the Afghan authorities have banned the entry of people from suburban areas due to strict security during this month [of Muharram],” he said.
Speaking to Arab News, S P Kaukab Farooq, superintendent of police in Peshawar, said that due to the sensitive situation “they (Afghan nationals) are not allowed to enter the city until Ashura (the 10th of Muharram)”.
Besides Peshawar, the districts of Kohat, Tank and D. I. Khan have been marked most sensitive due to their substantial Shiite population who are often targeted by extremist elements for their religious beliefs.
While the rules were much more lax earlier, officials said the Peshawar terror attack in December 2014 --- which killed 132 children from the Army Public School and which the military blamed the Taliban for – led to the tightening of security measures in the area, with passports now a must for entry into Pakistan. “Even if there is a patient to be brought to a hospital, the authorities demand to see their passport first,” Shamsul Islam, a Revenue Officer of the Landikotal subdivision, said.
Islam added that the permits are no longer issued at the border and instead need to be procured from the main cities in Afghanistan.
Ruing the changes in law which limited him from acquiring a passport on time, Wali Gul, a resident of the Nangarhar province in Afghanistan, said: “My 14-year-old daughter died from tuberculosis and liver dysfunction only because I was not granted permission to travel to a hospital in Peshawar. My family and I made repeated requests to the authorities at Torkham border to allow us to shift my daughter to a hospital in Peshawar but they demanded the patient’s passport first.”
Gul’s daughter died by the time he could make the necessary arrangements and finally cross the border. The aggrieved father urged authorities, on both sides of the border, to make temporary arrangements for patients with serious impediments so that they access medical attention on time.
Pakistan’s travel embargo puts Afghan patients at risk
Pakistan’s travel embargo puts Afghan patients at risk
- 10-day ban in place as part of security measures for Muharram
- Rights groups urge authorities to allow patients freedom of movement
Pakistan PM approves framework for National Energy Plan aimed at cutting power costs
- Electricity costs in Pakistan have been a major concern for both industries and domestic consumers
- PM Shehbaz Sharif instructs authorities to expedite privatization of power distribution companies
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday approved the framework for a National Energy Plan aimed at ensuring low electricity costs for industries and facilitating domestic consumers, Pakistani state broadcaster reported.
The development took place during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy in Islamabad presided over by Sharif. The Pakistani prime minister directed all ministries and provincial governments to present a “workable and coordinated” strategy under the proposed plan.
Electricity costs in Pakistan have been a major concern for both industries and domestic consumers. Industrial users often face high tariffs that increase production cost while residential consumers struggle with rising bills that impact household budgets.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has given in-principle approval for the formulation of a comprehensive National Energy Plan in consultation with relevant ministries and provincial governments,” Radio Pakistan said in a report.
“He emphasized that the government’s top priorities include ensuring electricity supply to industries at the lowest possible cost and providing facilitation for domestic consumers.”
Sharif also approved the establishment of a dedicated secretariat for the National Energy Plan and gave approval to the framework guidelines for auctioning wheeling charges, it added.
Wheeling charges are fees paid for using another company’s power grid to transmit electricity from a generator to a consumer, covering the cost of transporting electricity over someone else’s network.
The report said Sharif instructed authorities to include the recommendations of the climate change, finance, industries and petroleum ministries into the plan.
Sharif also gave instructions to expedite the privatization of power distribution companies (DISCOs) and urged competitive tariffs for industries to boost production capacity.
Fluctuations in fuel prices, inefficiencies in the power sector, and reliance on imported energy have contributed to high electricity costs in Pakistan in recent years, making energy affordability and stability a key focus for government policies and reforms.
Pakistan has pushed energy sector reforms to tackle long-standing issues like circular debt, power theft, and transmission losses, which have caused blackouts and high electricity costs.
In February, Pakistan developed a new energy policy that it says will help the country attract $5 billion in investment through public-private partnerships.
