MD PEPCO Rasool Khan has stated before the National Assembly Standing Committee on Water and Power that he could be hanged if he failed to end loadshedding should the government supply him ample amount of fuel and gas. His words deserve attention because he is the man who runs PEPCO and knows what needs to be done. And most important of all unlike other bureaucrats, he has taken the courage to speak the truth. Governments response towards a problem that affects every sphere of life, manifested by its failure to provide bare minimum of fuel and gas to power houses, is shameful to say the least. Summer is back with a vengeance and its intolerable heat in the absence of electricity is making peoples lives unbearable. But, it is also our economy on which the scourge exacts a heavy toll; while foreign investment becomes a rarity, local business ranging from markets to industries is literally paralysed. As a consequence, the entire country sinks into poverty. It is but a shame that the governments strategy has been that of wasting precious time while coming up with a variety of excuses or at best resorting to the policy of RPPs, which is a costly venture. Last year, Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif did force the federal government to look into the energy crisis as a result of which a conference headed by Prime Minister Gilani was promptly arranged but the promises about fulfilling the supply and demand gap turned out to be hot air. The fact is that neither the government has any vision nor it possesses the will to grapple with the power crunch in a determined way. It has hardly given any serious thought to initiating even small power houses, or generating electricity from wind or hydel sources. It continues to dither on the crucial project of Kalabagh Dam that can provide cheap electricity despite energy experts making noises that it is the best option available. The federal set-up must wake up from its slumber and act quickly to bridge the shortfall.