WHILE the shortage of electricity generation capacity in the country is an undeniable reality, there is a big question mark over the logic of depriving Punjab, the largest province in terms of population, agricultural produce and a host of other industrial and commercial activities, of its due share of the available power. That discrimination, so very obvious in 16 to 20 hours of loadshedding against shorter periods for other parts of the country, has been going on for quite some time, with all sections of society - industrialists, farmers as well as the public - registering their protest. Now, finally, the Chief Minister has spoken up, saying that on his initiative a meeting of all Chief Ministers is being held at Islamabad on Monday under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister where he will present the Punjabs case. He was addressing representatives of the provinces chambers of commerce and industry, parliamentarians and concerned officials. However, two years down the road, there is no point in wailing about the failings of Musharrafs regime in firming up the countrys power production capacity. Shortages had begun to appear even before the dictator had been compelled to leave the scene. Had the ruling politicians demonstrated some appreciation of their impact on the socio-economic life of the country, they would have acted straightaway and initiated projects on a fast track basis to make up for the deficiency. Serious efforts could have been made to exploit coal, solar and wind resources, which Mian Shahbaz Sharif has also suggested, not to talk of stepping up nuclear power generation. Unfortunately, the leaders were intent on going in for plants, which were old and worn out, costing phenomenally high prices and termed as overly expensive power producing units by the ADB. One could find no better explanation for this eagerness to get RPPs than the desire to oblige their front men and cronies. In the context of power shortage, one notes with a sense of shock and dismay that Mian Shahbaz has mentioned only Bhasha Dam, giving the impression that the PML-N has given up on Kalabagh Dam. While we are not against any big or small reservoir, including Bhasha, if it is technically and financially feasible, the project of Kalabaghs sterling utility should not be sacrificed at the altar of parochial politics. It is this very bias that is at work in dealing an unfair hand to Punjab in the distribution of available power supply among the provinces. Mian Shahbaz must bring out, at the meeting, not only the public suffering due to excessively long power cuts, but also the loss to the national economy that the discriminatory allocation of power resources is causing, and also try to convince his counterparts of the need for undertaking projects that are beneficial to the nation as a whole, without regard to where they are located.