| April 4, 2002 | Thursday | Muharram 20, 1423 |
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Plunder of sea wealth
Issue of referendum
A ‘kunda’ worth billions
Frustrating IT scholarships
Distribution of textbooks
Chundrigar and the Quaid
Dacoits active in Sindh
Voting by post
Secularism: an Indian view
Nadra
One-sided views on processions
THIS is with reference to Ayaz Amir’s column ‘The problem of legitimacy’ (March 29) and also to an editorial in an earlier issue.
It is stating the obvious, as written by Ayaz Amir and in the editorial, that General Pervez Musharraf seeks ‘legitimacy’ for continuation in office as president for a term of five years after the induction of the new parliament (for reasons that are well understood but not accepted by your columnist). What he has also ‘written’ — in his usual sparkling language and turn of phrase — is not so obvious to many a discerning Pakistani.
Firstly, I am sure that the majority of Pakistanis would be more than willing to not only ‘take kindly to endorse Gen Pervez Musharraf’s benign rule’, but do so with unambiguous desire to also add to his powers and stature in the ‘rules of business’. Of course, wayward politicians, discredited bureaucrats and some members of the fourth estate, would certainly not be so inclined.
Secondly, ‘legitimacy’ for holding any office or functional responsibility in I AM a government servant and I was awarded scholarship in the scheme titled ‘Re-training of government professionals’, launched last year by the Ministry of Science and Technology. This was the first of a series of schemes floated by this ministry to educate people in the field of Information Technology. It was really nice to see the policy-makers so concerned about the future of the people, perhaps for the first time in the last 55 years.
I felt myself really enthusiastic and decided to pursue this scholarship in the evening programme along with my job as I was not granted leave by my department. But unfortunately this enthusiasm and fascination did not last long.
I received the first shock when I had to pay all the dues amounting to Rs26,880, to the university from my own pocket as the fee for the first three months became due in October 2001 but the payment was not released by the ministry. I received a reimbursement by the end of December but it was only for two months’ fees, that is, Rs15,000.
The story does not end here because since then I have not received a single penny from the ministry. Every time I contact the dealing officials, I get the same answer which implies that payment is not possible in time owing to very slow processing on the part of the ministry.
Due to the bitter experience in the past, I have neither paid the fees for the Jan-March nor for the April-June quarters, from my own pocket. Hence it is very likely that my name will be struck off from the university.
It is indeed very heartening to see new schemes being launched under the Ministry of Science and Technology almost every other day, and people being awarded scholarships to pursue higher studies in the country and abroad. But I wonder: if this is the fate of a low-budget scheme, what must have been happening to the costlier plans.
How much of frustration must have been inflicted upon our young professionals by giving them false hopes or by putting them in awkward positions like mine.
I would suggest that the ministry should commit only what can be done easily. It would be better to launch one or two schemes at a time as against introducing 10 to 15 schemes concurrently, just for the sake of publicity, and soon afterwards not being able to sustain any one of them.
The present approach simply adds to the overall frustration which has become a permanent feature of our society.
MUNAWAR HUSSAIN
Rawalpindi
RECENTLY, an advertisement released by the Sindh government appeared in the newspapers regarding free distribution of course books amongst the students. A sizeable amount has also been released for this purpose. The Sindh Text Book Board, Jamshoro, is busy supplying the required quantity of books to all the districts.
The supply of free books to pupils, particularly of the rural areas, is a right step. It would decrease the number of drop outs, as a large number of students in the rural areas fail to continue their schooling simply because their parents cannot afford the expenditure on the purchase of books.
However, the Sindh government is requested to ensure proper and timely delivery of the books to deserving children for which they will have to put their field formations on the alert. And there must be some method to check that the distribution has been made among the deserving because past experience shows gross irregularities in this matter.
AGHA ALI GOHAR KHAN
Ghotki