| December 22, 2002 | Sunday | Shawwal 17, 1423 |
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Aid for rural uplift
Cancer prevention
THE US presidential spokesman on Friday claimed that tensions between Pakistan and India had been brought down from “alarming levels” and there was “now a markedly diminished point of tension”. The spokesman, who was replying to a question, was obviously referring, as his benchmark of comparison, to the state of affairs earlier in the year when Indian and Pakistani troops were ranged against each other on the border and have subsequently been ordered to disengage. But the situation is far from normal. A sullen mood continues to strain bilateral relations. New Delhi remains implacably opposed to suggestions for talks to see how the two countries can break the impasse that has frozen practically all contacts since Kargil. Even its allegation of “cross-border infiltration” needs at least to be discussed between civilian and military officials to arrive at some conclusion about what is really taking place on the Line of Control. There have been many ups and downs between the two countries, including full-scale wars, but every time there was an effort to return to normal working. No such effort has materialized in the present case, and the distrust is deeper than ever before since at least 1971.
Bitter statements are made in New Delhi and Islamabad practically on a daily basis, and the exchange of invective has been fuelled by debate on the Indian stand on the Saarc summit that was due to be held next month in Islamabad but has since been indefinitely postponed. India initially said it would attend, then demanded that cross-border terrorism should first cease, and then asked for assurances that economic agreements under Saarc would be honoured. Now it is suggesting that it was always ready to attend, but Pakistan unilaterally put off the summit. This verbal duelling must end, and if leaders and officials in the two countries cannot make any progress towards a dialogue, they should at least keep quiet. The Saarc issue should be put to the test: Pakistan should immediately announce new dates and invite India to take part without any reservations or pre-conditions on either side. The Indian premier’s presence in Islamabad could provide a powerful impetus for a new round of peace diplomacy.
The Track 2 process also deserves to be revived. Interlocutors from the two countries need to enjoy the confidence and backing of their respective governments. Perhaps they can help explore the opportunities for an intra-Kashmir dialogue presented, even if amorphously, by the change of administration in Srinagar. India had abruptly cut off all travel ties following the terrorist attack on its parliament building. Visas can still be obtained, but citizens of the two countries have to travel via Dubai or Kathmandu or other connecting points. This is an absurd situation that leaves the less-privileged citizens, who cannot afford the high cost of circuitous travel, out in the cold. A time has come when a determined attempt should be made by both Pakistan and India to stop considering or calling each other enemies — a word that sounds singularly out of date in today’s international context despite the Bush administration’s discovery of an “axis of evil” and its planned onslaught on Iraq. A more low-key and less arrogant approach, dictated by concern for the millions of impoverished Indians and Pakistanis, should guide the policies of the two estranged neighbours.
THE approval of a $250-million loan to Pakistan on Friday by the Asian Development Bank for developing the Rural Finance Sector Programme (RFSP) underlines a long awaited realization among the donors, especially multilateral agencies, that rural Pakistan needs their special focus. The potential client base for rural finance is estimated at nine million rural households, consisting of both poor and non-poor households. Urban-based financial institutions catering to the needs of agriculture and agro-based industry, with its reach confined to 800,000, could so far cover only one-fourth of the total credit demand from the rural sector. Because of the vast physical distance between the lender and the borrower, the transaction cost makes it unprofitable for banks to market their products more vigorously in the rural areas. And for the same reason, the rural borrower too finds it financially burdensome and logistically troublesome to approach urban based institutions to borrow the needed resources. In the absence of formal financial institutions in the rural sector, the needs of its producers are fulfilled by informal moneylenders who charge very high interest rates, exploiting the weak bargaining power of the borrowers. These moneylenders skim off the cream from the output and leave the producers with next to nothing, consigning them to life-long poverty. As a consequence, the agricultural sector has suffered greatly and has taken down along with it in the process the entire national economy keeping it in a perpetual state of stagnation.
Appropriately, the ADB programme has been designed to assist the government in accelerating rural economic growth by addressing key constraints to attain self-reliance in agricultural commodities, ensure food security and generate more employment opportunities. Indeed, the aid money could be profitably used by establishing a wide network of rural based micro-finance lending services catering mainly to middle and lower segments of the market. In order to keep wastage, leakages and the number of non-performing portfolios to a minimum, the government with the help of the donors should develop well thought out loan packages for separate crops and for separate sizes of land holdings. It should also involve local government representatives at the stage of loan negotiations between the lender and the borrower.
A CONFERENCE in Karachi was informed on Friday of the need to focus more attention on the preventative aspects of fighting cancer. Jointly organized by the Pakistan Society for Clinical Oncology and the Department and Institute of Radiotherapy at the Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre, the conference brought together leading specialists in the field from both Pakistan and abroad. The incidence of cancer is increasing at an alarming rate in most developing countries, including Pakistan. Because the cost of treating cancer patients is so exorbitantly high, doctors stressed the importance of taking measures to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. One hopeful message is that a third of all cancer cases reported annually are curable and can be treated effectively. Timely diagnosis, however, is crucial in saving lives.
In countries like Pakistan, the main cause of cancer is tobacco consumption. Insidiously, most tobacco advertising targets young people and associates smoking with glamorous lifestyles and healthy activities such as sports. Traditionally, Third World governments have been wary of taking strict action against tobacco advertising because of the consideration of a massive loss of revenues. However, the amount of revenue collected from the sales of tobacco is more than cancelled out by the cost of treating cancer patients. Another major cause of cancer is the absence of a healthy diet. Doctors at the Karachi conference suggested that the public must be encouraged to increase its intake of fruits and vegetables to lower the risk of cancer. Taking simple measures such as spreading awareness about the hazards of smoking and the benefits of a proper diet, as well as reporting any suspicious tumour or growth to a doctor immediately, could save countless lives and ease the burden on the country’s already hard-pressed health resources.