The Secretary of Water and Power has declined to present contracts with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) during a Senate committee meeting, sparking concerns over transparency. The Senate Functional Committee on Devolution, chaired by Senator Zarqa Taimoor, held a session to discuss the IPP agreements. The committee chair questioned the Secretary about the details of these contracts and the payments made to the IPPs. In response, the Secretary described the IPP contracts as a "hidden affliction" and stated that full disclosure to the committee was not feasible, implying that the information could not be fully shared.

Senator Taimoor challenged the Secretary's stance, arguing that taxpayers have a right to know about the contracts and the entities benefiting from them. She compared the situation to past government subsidies for sugar producers and demanded a forensic audit of the IPPs. She suggested that IPPs should be shut down, claiming that many owners are local investors, with a prominent investor in Lahore being a police officer. Officials from the Ministry of Water and Power responded by asserting that they are addressing the IPP issue with utmost seriousness.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan