There appears to be no limit to the misery that the government is inflicting on the masses. The latest news is that the government is planning to enforce a gas development surcharge tax on the masses which will increase billing of domestic consumers by Rs 200 in summers and Rs 600 in winters each month. The governments partner in crime leading to the enforcement of this tax are as usual SNGPL and SSGPL as well as OGDCL, which are notorious for recommending frequent raises in the price of gas and petrol at the drop of a hat. The justification given for this surcharge is that the government has run short of funds to carry out the development of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. Also it has been reported that this surcharge will beused to fill the shortfall in the governments income. The other day, Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Dr Asim Hussain informed the Senates Standing Committee on Petroleum that the gas surcharge will cause an increase in the price of petroleum products. So the full scale of the disaster will be horrendous. As a result when the price of petrol will go up, the entire inflationary circle will get into action making food items and other products of daily use go farther from the common mans reach. During the governments three years in power, even the median families have been pushed below the poverty line, thanks to these frequent raises in the price of energy products and other goods.