By: Zulfiqar Ali (Kashmir Investigation Team)
MUZAFFARABAD: In a worrisome development, the Azad Kashmir government and semi-government institutions owe a total of Rs37.22 billion in electricity bills as of March 2025.
Out of these, according to the documents, Rs33.85 billion are due by government departments alone, while Rs3.37 billion are due by the semi-government institutions.
According to the data given in the documents, by June 2024, the government departments and institutions of Azad Kashmir had arrears amounting to approximately 28.66 billion rupees. In the first nine months of the current year, i.e., until March 2025, the arrears increased by about 5.19 billion rupees.
This means there was an 18.11% increase in the first nine months of the current financial year.
Similarly, according to the documents, the liabilities of the semi-government entities were Rs3.50 billion in June 2024, which increased to Rs3.37 billion by March 2025.
This means that there was an increase of Rs 322,335,000 in the first nine months of the current financial year, i.e. an increase of 10.57 percent.
It is not yet clear how much these arrears increased in the last three months of April, May and June of the current fiscal year, however, according to official sources, the Secretary of the Electricity Department has written a letter to all the concerned departments to immediately pay their arrears.
It is not clear how much the arrears increased in April, May, and June 2025; however, according to official sources, the Secretary of Electricity has written letters to all the concerned departments and directed them to pay immediately.
The government has so far been reluctant to release details of how much money is owed by which government agencies, but according to reports, almost all government and semi-government departments are defaulters on electricity bills.
Analysts say that if such a huge amount is paid, many major public welfare projects can be started, and there may be no need to take development grants from Pakistan.
They say that during this entire period, the government of Azad Kashmir has remained silent on an important question: Why is it not paying the electricity bills itself?
According to him, not presenting any explanation at any forum despite having liabilities of billions of rupees is not only a manifestation of financial mismanagement but also shows a serious institutional and moral negligence.
This situation reflects the fact that the government has completely failed to maintain financial discipline over its own subordinate institutions. According to analysts, when government institutions do not pay their bills, the direct loss is to development expenditure, public services, and welfare projects.
He said that government irresponsibility not only leads to budget distortions but also sets a dangerous tradition — that violation of the law has become the norm not only for the people but also for the government itself, and that too without any accountability.
