On May 11, the ongoing protest movement against the increase in flour and electricity rates by the Joint Public Action Committee in Pakistan-administered Kashmir ended after the government accepted their demands.
However, clashes between the protesters and law enforcement agencies led to the death of three protesters, according to officials.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Muzaffarabad and announced a subsidy of 23 billion rupees for the citizens, along with a ‘Shuhada Package’ for the families of those who lost their lives.
The government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir also released new flour prices. Now, the price of a 20 kg bag of flour will be Rs 1,000, while a 40 kg bag will cost Rs 2,000.
Additionally, a reduction in electricity rates was announced. The new rates will be based on a slab system: Rs 3 per unit for consumers using 1 to 100 units, Rs 5 per unit for up to 200 units, and Rs 6 per unit for higher consumption.
Why Are Subsidies Given?
Before addressing this question, it is important to understand that Pakistan-administered Kashmir, like Gilgit-Baltistan, is a disputed area according to United Nations resolutions. Its administration is handled by Pakistan through a legislative assembly.
The region has its own elected prime minister and cabinet, which makes laws and receives grants from the Pakistani government for development work.
Gilgit-Baltistan, also a disputed area, was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir until 1947. However, the local people did not recognize the rule of the Hindu Maharaja of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has had an electoral process since 1970, but Gilgit-Baltistan was first allowed to exercise the right to vote in 2009.
Why Are Subsidies Given?
Now the question is: since when have people been subsidized on flour in Pakistan-administered Kashmir? In response to this question, a former senior official of Kashmir’s food department told Azadi Times that this process has been going on for five to ten years. At the same time, he expressed ignorance about the news of subsidy being given since 1970.
According to the former official: “I have no idea about the issue of subsidy since 1970. Although I have held a senior position in the food department, I am not aware of any such subsidy being given since 1970.”
He said: “This subsidy is not on the cost of flour but on its transportation and other costs which were reduced due to inflation during the last two years.”
According to the official, the reason for ending the subsidy was the steep rise in wheat prices in the last two years, making it impossible for the government to give the full subsidy.
He said: “There was a problem of inflation for two years, due to which the market saw an increase in the prices of flour and the public reaction started to emerge from last year.”
Apart from the reduction in flour prices, the protesting Tehreek Joint Awami Action Committee had also demanded lower electricity rates and Mangla Dam royalty.
At the time of the Mangla Dam expansion project in 2003, the Pakistani government entered into an agreement with the then Pakistan-administered Kashmir government, known as the ‘Mangla Dam Raising Agreement’.
According to this agreement, the victims of Mangla Dam were to be given a five-marla plot along with cash compensation.
Similarly, according to the agreement, it was announced that electricity per unit in Pakistan-administered Kashmir would be provided at a subsidized rate.
Subsidies and Protests in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir
According to the agreement, a committee will be formed to determine the changes in electricity rates, while a subsidy of one rupee per unit will be given by the government on electricity prices.
Mangala Dam, the second largest dam in Pakistan and the seventh largest in the world, was built in 1965 on the Jhelum River in Mirpur district of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, with its expansion beginning in 2003.
Abdul Hakeem Kashmiri, a writer and columnist based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir who closely follows Kashmir issues, told Independent Urdu that the flour subsidy is provided by the government of Kashmir, not Pakistan, and no subsidy is given on electricity.
Abdul Hakeem said: “It is said that this subsidy was started in 1970 during Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s regime because it was a backward area and people had no means of livelihood, so this subsidy was given.”
He explained that Pakistan-administered Kashmir provides a subsidy of about eight billion rupees, allocated in the budget.
Sardar Atiq Hussain, former prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and president of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference Party, told Azadi Times that the subsidy was introduced in 1970 during the tenure of the first president and chief executive, Sardar Abdul Qayyum (Mujahid I).
“The subsidy was not only on flour, but whatever was available in Murree and Kohala was priced the same in Kashmir,” he said. He added that gas cylinders were also subsidized to save forests.
“This subsidy was given on kerosene, flour, gas cylinders, and coal. The gas cylinders, which were available for 100 rupees in Rawalpindi, were available for 80 rupees in Kashmir,” he explained.
How Did This Issue Lead to Violent Protests?
Abdul Hakeem Kashmiri noted that people were demanding relief in electricity rates because seven to eight times more electricity is generated there than needed.
“The government used to collect the bill as tax on various occasions, and in 2014 fuel price adjustment was also included in the bill, so public discontent was brewing since then,” he said.
Later, the people started demanding the production cost because although Mangala Dam was built in 1967, no benefits were provided to the local people until 2003.
“When the Mangala expansion project started in 2003, an agreement was signed, but electricity was available at 2 rupees 59 paise per unit, while the price of electricity per unit was the same at that time,” he added.
In 2018, another power project was completed in the Neelum Jhelum Valley, but it also did not benefit the people, which further angered them as it was added to the bills as a surcharge.
According to Abdul Hakeem Kashmiri, Article 161 of the Constitution states that the area where electricity is generated will benefit from it, but the local people were affected by the dam without receiving any benefit.
He said that the demands started last year, and although a committee was formed, the demands were not accepted, leading to the current situation.
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