| October 7, 2002 | Monday | Rajab 29, 1423 |
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
Kachhi Canal project
Health education & research
THE relationship between the press and the Musharraf government had on the whole been quite equable during the past three years. The government had decided, wisely, to leave the press alone, and the latter had utilized its independence with vigorous commentary and reporting that could only have helped the authorities in policy-making on matters of public interest. It is, therefore, puzzling in the extreme why the regime, in its last few weeks before the induction of an elected government, should have embarked on a path of possible confrontation with the media. Two press bodies, the All-Pakistan Newspaper Society (APNS) and the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), have just forcefully reiterated their opposition to a number of laws drafted or promulgated by the government that seriously impinge on press freedom. Organizations representing newspaper workers and journalists have been equally critical. This chorus of protest has been met largely with silence on the part of the authorities, except for a lame statement by an official spokesman saying the government will continue to work with representatives of the media in the days and weeks ahead. But the spokesman’s remarks were apparently related only to the Defamation Ordinance, which has already been promulgated; he gratuitously promised that “any reasonable amendment” would be considered.
But there are three other press laws approved by the federal cabinet that are equally pernicious. A process of consultation had been initiated some time back between the newspaper industry and the government on the formation of a press council, registration of newspapers, and a freedom of information act. The APNS and CPNE have accused the government of breaking the consensus reached on these matters and making many significant departures from the agreed drafts that will have the effect of emasculating the press. The press council was proposed as a self-regulating body, but has been turned into a press court with the “draconian power” of cancelling the declaration of a newspaper. A code of ethics was envisaged as a set of professional guidelines; it has been converted into a legal undertaking on the part of editors, publishers and printers. Rules for the registration of newspapers have been tightened up, and proposals for a law on freedom of information prohibits access to many matters that have, ironically, formed the staple of white papers and accountability documents issued by military regimes against elected politicians.
The cabinet-approved laws contain a number of similar other restrictive steps, all of which have been underlined in the media in the past few days. The defamation ordinance has come under particular attack because it seeks to circumscribe debate on issues concerning the military and the conduct of foreign policy. One looks hard for an explanation for the timing of the government’s anti-press moves. Does it anticipate intensified media scrutiny of its actions after the elections or does it wish to restrict reporting on possible tensions between the new parliament and the president? Is safeguarding the proposed National Security Council a factor in the government’s calculations? Uncertain of what lies ahead in a political dispensation, does it wish to create some no-go areas? Whatever the reason that has persuaded the government to suddenly decide on a clutch of restrictive laws relating to the media, the press-government relations stand in danger of being gravely impaired. It is best if the authorities announce that no steps will be taken till the government that comes into being after the elections has held a dialogue with the representatives of the newspaper industry. There should also be a firm assurance that the Defamation Ordinance, already technically a law, will be open to revision in consultation with all those concerned and indeed to see whether any special laws relating to the press are at all needed in the presence of legislation already on the statute book. In this context, the president’s directive on Saturday to the ministries of information and law to resolve the issue of controversial press laws in consultation with the APNS and the CPNE is welcome.
THE Kachhi Canal project near Multan launched by the president on Friday aims at utilizing water resources for meeting the needs of some of the most water-starved parts of Punjab and Balochistan. The 500-mile long canal, to be built at a cost of Rs 28 billion, would have distributaries and minors. Currently, an estimated 2.1 MAF of river water flows down the Kotri barrage into the sea. Scant efforts have been made to tap this resource while most of the country has been in the grip of a near- drought situation for the past many years. Failure to make use of the water available and create additional storage capacity has affected our agricultural economy. Balochistan, probably the worst affected by the drought and having a cultivable last base of 17 million acres, is in dire need of irrigation water. If the province’s cropping intensity is increased from a dismal two per cent to 46 per cent, as planned, it would go a long way in meeting the needs of its people. Moreover, if properly managed and expanded with a view to distributing water equitably and in sufficient quantity, the scheme would help bring barren tracts under cultivation.
Clearly, there is a pressing need to tap water resources and build additional storage to tackle recurrent complaints emanating from the provinces on this score. The government has planned a number of water-tapping and storage projects in various parts of the country. The recent initiative to raise the Mangla Dam height is part of these efforts. Unfortunately, there are differences among the provinces on water distribution which have been persisting for quite some time. These must be removed by taking into account their requirements and sharing water on a fair and equitable basis.
CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has invested very little in health education and research relating to diseases prevalent in the country, the setting up of the first health university in the public sector, inaugurated by the president in Lahore on Thursday, marks a step towards improving medical education. There has been a decline in its quality in recent years. The syllabus is not modern and adding to the constraints is the neglect of research and teaching standards to meet the challenge of providing better and less expensive medical care.
Moreover, a major cause for concern is the lack of accessibility of the bulk of the population to affordable and effective health care. On the other hand, increased reliance on the private sector in the garb of autonomy granted to many public hospitals, pushing up treatment costs, has created serious problems for the less privileged. In many far-flung areas, there are no health facilities at all. Medical education with a focus on improving health care at the primary and secondary levels can help in this regard.
Students and doctors studying in the new university can benefit from the research and advances made in the development of community medicine which takes into account different conditions in different areas. Similarly, identification of the important causes of disease is crucial in determining priorities for health education and research in a low-income country like Pakistan.