Fact-Check: Does Turkmenistan No Longer Offer Free Electricity, Gas And Water?

Nowadays, people are troubled by the rising inflation in the country; on the other hand, so many taxes have been imposed on the earners that they are also troubled. But do you know there is a country in the world where people get free electricity, gas, and water? Recently, a video is going viral on social media, in which it is being claimed that in a country named Turkmenistan, people not only get free electricity and water, but they also do not have to pay for gas. So let’s take a look.

In the latest viral video, it is written that Turkmenistan is the only country in the whole world where gas, electricity, and water are given free to the people from 1993 till date. This post has been shared on Instagram by a user named Daily Life Fact Knowledge, which is followed by 16 thousand people on this platform. This post has received more than 12 lakh views so far. At the same time, thousands of people have liked and shared it.

According to reports, in Turkmenistan, since the year 1993, people there really used to get electricity, water, and gas for free. But in the year 2019, then-President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow abolished this provision. According to the reason given by the government behind ending it, there was the growing population of the country and the deteriorating economic conditions there. Currently, none of these things are free in Turkmenistan. Therefore, many claims made in the post are misleading.

Take a look at the post:

Turkmenistan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Two years later, in 1993, the government introduced free utilities like water, gas, and electricity for its citizens. This initiative was launched by the country’s first President, Saparmyrat Nyýazow, providing each citizen with 35 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 50 cubic meters of natural gas per month. Additionally, 250 litres (66 gallons) of water were supplied daily. These free provisions are no longer available today.

Now none of these facilities are available to the people there for free, but such posts often go viral.