| December 7, 2001 | Friday | Ramazan 21, 1422 |
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Govt medical colleges
Scholarship fund
Killing the defenceless
Meaning of fundamentalism
The best defence
College highhandedness
PTV’s coverage of Afghan war
Unauthorized train stop
Wapda’s open kutchery
Union council’s role in development
FAMINGOS are the family- operated NGOs. The top functionaries are close relatives — fathers, sons, daughters, etc. Often when a founder or president of an NGO becomes too ill to run its affairs, he passes on his responsibilities to his son or daughter.
The tendency to treat an NGO as one’s personal property, to be handed down to close relatives, has always existed in our country. This tendency has been increasing gradually ever since some donor agencies started giving big grants to projects run by influential NGOs which created power and wealth that had to be protected by their own families.
There are several types of famingos. One category is of the benevolent trusts and foundations in which certain families donate a substantial fund from their own resources to create a trust to start philanthropic activities like running schools, hospitals, and such other institutions. A few family members become trustees but may also involve other individuals. Trusts are registered under trust laws.
The second category is of the profit, making organizations which run their business under the broad banner of ‘NGOs’. They often have family members on their boards of management. Their programmes and services are carried out on a commercial basis for which clients pay high fees and are also supported by international donors. Like all other business enterprises, family members control their funds.
The third category is of the non-profit NGOs whose membership is voluntary. They depend on foreign and local donations and contributions from communities and service charges to run their programmes and activities. Their membership is open to all but in some cases the control of their affairs is passed on to family members by their presidents or office-bearers.
The desire for families to control NGOs and their funds stems from two factors — one is the lack of trust in any other person except one’s own kith and kin and the second is to maintain total control of the resources.
There is nothing illegal in this practice, as law in Pakistan, unlike in few other countries, does not forbid family members from becoming members of NGOs. The issue is more ethical than legal because it leads to lack of transparency and efficiency and sustainability.
Moreover, as experience has shown, the relatives of the founders or presidents of NGOs may not have the same sense of commitment to the cause of the NGO and after their death the agency, which has failed to build a lasting institutional structure, may collapse and its funds painstakingly raised through public donations, are misused. This practice, therefore prevents healthy growth of voluntary organizations and creates mistrust among the public.
The problem becomes more unethical when the funds collected by the NGOs from the public are transformed into trusts and foundations under family names and controlled by various members of the family. Neither the donors nor the stakeholders are allowed access to the affairs of such organizations as become family property. An element of secrecy creeps in and they do not feel obliged to publish reports of activities or their accounts. Such famingos fail to stand public scrutiny.
Many NGOs, including famingos, have done excellent work. But this is not enough. Experience shows that many good organizations flounder on the rocks of poor management and lack of transparency despite their good work. The organizations that people have supported so generously then die a slow death and people lose confidence in the work of the NGOs. The goal of the NGOs should be to make their services sustainable, which would live after them. This can only be done if proper management practices are developed; there is accountability and openness in which non-family members are also involved in their organizations.
In order to promote healthy growth of NGOs, it is important that awareness is created about these issues both among the public and the NGOs themselves. It is the responsibility of the NGOs to develop a code of ethics and conduct that would act as a safeguard, build public confidence and improve their management, as well as their services.
Mrs. SHIREENREHMATULLAH
Karachi
THE conditions of government medical colleges are appalling in Karachi.
I got into the Sindh Medical College with all my dreams and zeal. But on the very first day, I came to know that we have 250 students in our batch and gradually in the final year we had more than 500 students in our class.
Unfortunately, most of the teachers and students are interested in all other activities except academic pursuits. When the teachers come to the class, they just deliver their lectures half-heartedly. Private tuition in S.M.C. and D.M.C is on the rise. Walking in the corridors, one can come across many students taking tuition from the seniors.
One can’t even think of a medical school without a library or a reading room. Our library has been under construction for the last several years.
Every year we have a new principal who takes new measures and changes the past planning and schedule.
Politics in the college is the order of the day. The students who do not belong to any political party or group can’t do anything for the betterment of the college and their colleagues. Any charitable venture is difficult to carry on. Such students are likely to be humiliated and disgraced.
The students’ affairs section of the college has nothing to do for the betterment of the students.
Only money and personal contacts work. One of our colleagues went to a teacher to have a recommendation letter for electives at a respectable medical school. To her surprise the teachers asked “what is elective”.
A FINAL YEAR STUDENT
Karachi
WE, the residents of Union Council-5, Landhi, Bin Qasim Town, would like to draw the attention of the high-ups towards the embezzlement of scholarship funds allocated for needy, brilliant and deserving students of Haji Natho Khoso Higher Secondary School, Haji Wali Mohammad Village.
A scholarship fund of Rs 50,000 was sanctioned for the poor and the needy students of the said school and cash was received by the Kissan Councillor of the area. About Rs 20,000 was misappropriated from the fund and the rest was bungled away by other officials.
We, the residents of Haji Wali Mohammad Village and Faqir Mohammad Village, appeal to the concerned authorities to conduct an enquiry of about this plundering of funds and bring the culprits to justice.
RESIDENTS OF UC-5
Bin Qasim Town
THE indiscriminate bombing by the American and British forces on Afghanistan under the excuse of rooting out the Al Qaeda network and eliminating the Taliban is adding to the miseries of the Afghan people.
The poorest of the poor are being targeted by the most powerful countries of the world using their most sophisticated weapons. They are bombing villages suspecting them as hideouts of Osama or its lieutenants and in the process killing innocent civilians, including women and children. They call it “collateral damage” and under this excuse have already killed thousands. Is this not terrorism?
Recently they have killed over 500 Taliban troops who had surrendered to the Northern Alliance in Qala-i-Jangi. The US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld now gives a justification that they were not prisoners at the time of bombing as they had revolted and fought with the guards. What an explanation for killing defenceless prisoners?
At the time of surrender, the first thing to be done is to disarm the prisoners and this must have been done by the Dostum troops. Still the Americans resorted to bombing. But alas! they cannot be tried as they are the sole superpower on earth and whatever they do is right.
MOHAMMAD AZHAR KHWAJA
Lahore
THE label of being “fundamentalist” has been tagged on to the Muslims for quite some time now. I think this wrong interpretation should be cast aside as soon as possible.
The “fundamentalist” means a person who follows the fundamental doctrines of any religion. Now is this meaning so hard to understand or is it just a tool for discriminating against Muslims? When a person calls me an “Islamic fundamentalist” then, according to the Oxford dictionary (new edition for 1990s), I would be a person who follows the fundamental doctrines of my religion, that is Islam.
This implies that I am a good Muslim, as we all know that in order to move forward in a particular discipline one must strictly follow the fundamentals of that discipline.
For example, for me to understand the greater and higher level of chemistry I should follow the “fundamentals” of chemistry such as the Dalton’s theory and so gradually would I be able to understand the organic or some other forms of higher level chemistry. I am sure no teacher of chemistry would be annoyed or least of all horrified, at the thought of her/his students being fundamentalist chemists. A fundamentalist chemist believes in the fundamentals of chemistry and strictly follows them. Well, what’s the harm in it?
If there is no harm in it, then why should there be harm if a person is an Islamic fundamentalist?
AROOSA SHAUKAT
Faisalabad
NUCLEAR tests of 1998 made Pakistanis proud because they then fancied that their national security had been fully ensured.
The news leaked to the American press after September 11, stating that American and Israeli commandos might snatch away our atomic bombs, made people here feel insecure once again.
It then became evident that it is not nuclear weapons that give a country security in real terms. We have the example of the Soviet Union which collapsed despite a big arsenal of nuclear weapons and other armaments.
To me, what ensures national and individual security is economic prosperity, intellectual strength and people’s involvemnt in the running of the government.
GHULAM KIBRIA
Karachi
ON August 25, 2001, my daughter (Huda Imtiaz Piracha) appeared in the entrance-test for admission to the DHA College for Women. After going through the marks-sheet and entrance test scores, the Principal offered admission in psychology, elective English, and statistics, instead of pre-medical. We agreed.
On September 13, we paid about Rs15,000, (Rs4000 more than given in the prospectus), plus another about Rs2000 for books and uniform, also bought from the college shops.
When my daughter, Huda, went to the college on Monday (Sept 17), she was told that she could not be admitted to statistics because it must be studied with mathematics and the college did not have seats available in the math class. She was not allowed to enter the psychology class by the class teacher, saying that the class was full. The same thing happened in the elective English class.
The following day I had to skip my office and spend four hours at DHA College in order to resolve the matter with the Principal. First, I was told by the Principal that she would talk to the concerned psychology teacher and let me know. Later I was shown a piece of paper and told that the psychology teacher had tested Huda in that subject and failed her, therefore, Huda could not be admitted in the psychology class. Now psychology is a subject which Huda has never studied before, a fact already known to the college. I do not think it is even offered in Matric. Moreover, the subjects were agreed upon on the basis of the entrance test scores. Then I was told that Huda was very weak in English, therefore, she could not be admitted in elective English either. Huda scored above 70 percent marks in English in class 9 and 10, and studied in O’levels upto class 8 at City School, and her English is not weak.
After this, we were told that Huda has to select new subjects and if we did not like this option we can go to another college, but no fees will be refunded except perhaps Rs2000 of caution money, out of the Rs17000. This is obviously unfair and unjustified. We were lured to pay for admission in subjects of our choice then trapped to accept the subjects of their choice, completely disregarding child’s interests. Please note I came across other students also with similar complaints in the college at that time.
We approached the DHA authorities on October 4, 2001, but neither the agreed subjects were given, nor the fees refunded (which also included fees for the preceding three months).
What is more disturbing than my personal ordeal, in this case, is the social implications of this kind of laxity towards fairness and ethical conduct by an institution that prepares our future citizens and mothers.
I hope the concerned authorities and Minister of Education will take notice of this ongoing scam.
IMTIAZ PIRACHA
Karachi
PTV’s coverage of the Afghan war has been absolutely substandard. Since the USA started air strikes, we were expecting a better coverage of this historical event. In spite of the fact that it boasts of three channels, PTV has lagged far behind other channels in covering the war in our close neighbourhood.
The CNN, the BBC and even Al-Jazeera had sent their reporters to remote places in Pakistan and whenever possible, inside Afghanistan too. But PTV could not match them in spite of having a home ground advantage. Shameful as it may be, but even the Indian channels did a better job than PTV.
Dr JAMAL NASIR MEMON
Karachi
THE driver of a local train, KD 1, daily makes an unauthorized stop between the Airport and the Malir Halt railway stations, to purchase one litre of milk from a milk shop along the railway line. All the passengers of this train are a witness to this.
I request the concerned authority to take appropriate action against the driver who, in this way, causes delay to all the passengers.
KHAWAJA MUHAMMAD SHAFI
Karachi
A FEW days ago, the Chairman of Wapda held an open kutchery at Sukkur after a long time, to hear the consumers’ complaints.
The Wapda head gave a patient hearing to the consumers and, in some cases, ordered on the spot redressal. Some Wapda officials were placed under suspension and some were warned on account of excessive billing.
However, the open kutchery was very thinly attended because it was held without advance publicity through the media. Due to that, a large number of consumers who were victims of excessive billing could not benefit from the Chairman’s open kutchery.
Open kutcheries wheresoever held, need to be publicized adequately.
AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN
Ghotki
IN the spirit of devolution, we feel the union council should be strengthened as the basic unit of governance and development. The local representatives should be able to plan the union’s future development for which they need an empirical analysis in order to optimize resource allocation.
The advantage of a local database of residents is that it allows the administration to assess the assets that the union already possesses. For example, a large number of residents in rural areas own milk-producing animals. If we are able to tap this resource, we can establish a collection centre for the entire community’s excess produce, and sell it to a milk processing and packaging company, thereby creating a new means of income for local residents who otherwise can’t sell their excess produce elsewhere.
Knowing the banking needs such as the amount of loans taken out by the community in a given year can assist in negotiating with a bank to open up a branch locally.
Knowing the amount of educated or skilled human resource available will allow for planning of educational or industrial institutes. Currently, a problem encountered by the education department is the unwillingness of their staff living in the cities to commute to rural areas.
As result, many government schools in rural areas are understaffed. If we are able to assess the human resource available to a village or union locally, we can resolve this problem by hiring locally.
Technology and information today present undeniable advantage to those who strive to harness their potential. If the union council maintains a database of its residents, it can formulate its own development activity plans and justify them with empirical evidence. If the union is aware of its own assets and needs, it can mobilize the community to participate in its own development and welfare rather than be solely dependent on the government for assistance.
We have initiated a pilot study in one of the villages of our union council. We conducted this exercise in a village of 7000 + residents and 600 + households. We are now able to conduct multiple queries based on the information we collected with the click of a button. Demographics like the average household income, average number of people per house, exact number of people over the age of 60 years are available to us instantly and can form the basis of our future planning and development for that community. A breakdown of the activities undertaken for this project are briefly described below:
We created a detailed socio-economic survey form with questions specific to a rural population to be filled for every household.
We compiled a list of names of all heads of a household to be interviewed one by one.
Trained locally elected representatives to conduct interviews and fill out forms. We created a complex database structure to store all this information and a front-end application to facilitate data-entry.
We hired skilled data-entry operators locally to digitize the data.
We believe this can be done and should be done by all union councils if for no other reason than to introduce transparency into their decision-making and facilitate informed decision-making with regard to socio-economic development. We would be happy to share our experience with anyone who may be interested.
ZAHOOR HUSSAIN QURESHI
Nazim, Union Council 76
Mian Channu