| 26 July 2004 | Monday | 08 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425 |
Population bomb
The latest fallacy
India's motive behind defence hike
Devil and the deep sea
Slaughter of trees
Typhoid vaccine
More women in CSS jobs
Help who?
Safe houses
Children and drugs
Banking courts' working
Natural gas price rise
Ghost highrises
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This is with reference to the ongoing debate on medical universities in your newspaper. I would like to say a few things on this matter as well. As a doctor, I am perplexed to find doctors opposing the establishment of medical universities in the public sector in Pakistan.
It is surprising that none of those opposing the establishment of medical universities in the public sector wrote any letters to newspapers when medical universities were being set up in the private sector. Could this have something to do with a conflict of interest?
In Punjab the situation was very bad. Medical colleges were linked to the University of Punjab in Lahore, Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan or to the Islamia University in Bahawalpur.
Those in charge of the medical section in these universities used to be clerk-level officials and their job would be to compile the results and set examination dates. Students would have easy access to them and this led to numerous cases of fraudulent or tampered results.
The other problem was that answer sheets were not being returned by examiners even after four or five months. Now, the situation is that in the case of the University of Health Sciences in Lahore, results are declared 10-15 days after an examination.
A strict system of monitoring reduces opportunities of nepotism which is a welcome change given that in the past relatives of professors were known to receive high marks and academic honours because of their connections.
The University Grants Commission and now the Higher Education Commission (HEC) have given millions to non-medical universities over the years. However, in my career of 39 years as a doctor not a single rupee was ever given to any affiliated medical college in Pakistan for development or for research.
Now the HEC is giving millions of rupees to medical universities in the public sector and this will filter down to their affiliated colleges. Hundreds of scholarships are being offered by the HEC now, a distinct change from the past when not a single scholarship was ever given to medical students. All administrative bodies in public universities consist of doctors.
When the Nishtar Medical College was set up in Multan in 1951 and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan in Karachi in 1962, even then certain lobbies had opposed their establishment.
Readers will be surprised to know that many of those opposing the University of Health Sciences in Lahore happen to be regional representatives of various royal colleges of England and of US- based boards of medicine.
The medical community in Pakistan should seize this opportunity to make medical universities a success in the public sector. This will prove to everyone that doctors are capable of running universities and can impart medical education that is at par with that in the rest of the world.
DR EICE MUHAMMAD
Professor of Medicine Sheikh Zayed Medical College Rahimyar Khan
Population bomb
The US Library of Congress data on the population of Pakistan was estimated in July 2004 to be 159,196,336 with an annual growth rate of 1.9 per cent for the year 2003. The UNDP claims the growth rate to be 2.4 per cent per annum for Pakistan.
The World Human Development Report, recently released by the UNDP, ranks Pakistan at 142 in the 177 nations of the world with regard to per capita income, educational level and health quality.
With this deplorable standing amongst the world nations, we are spending the largest chunk of our national income on unproductive and military devices. Instead of controlling and motivating the citizens to realize the effects of high population growth, the Punjab governor is busy every week attending mass marriage ceremonies of segments of society which already 8-10 children.
The religious parties oppose family planning and also try to nullify the efforts of NGOs to effectively implement their plans for population control. Until and unless Pakistan follows China's policy of one child, Pakistan's projected population by 2025 would be 249.7 million at the growth rate of 2.7 per cent.
With the crises, water shortage and wheat production, the standard of living of a majority of the population will deteriorate. It is interesting to note that in 1951, Pakistan's western wing had a population of only 33 million. It increased more than four times in 50 years to 148.6 million in 2003.
The largest city of Pakistan, Karachi, with a population of about 12 million, is highly polluted while the other cities are suffering from the same fate due to growth of population and failure of government to cope with the issue of population control.
ENGR. S.T. HUSSAIN
Lahore
The latest fallacy
Pakistanis love romancing fallacies. The latest fallacy is that the upturn in Pakistan's economy is all due to Mr Shaukat Aziz, Prime Minister-in-waiting. What changed the economic scenario in Pakistan? One, the 9/11 plane crashes that brought the World Trade Towers to rubble had multiple effects.
Secondly, because of this, all hawala transactions were strictly monitored and foreign exchange began to flow through the banks in Pakistan. Thirdly, with anti-Muslim feelings surfacing in the West, most Pakistanis transferred their money to Pakistan.
Fourthly, the US invasion of Afghanistan and Pakistan's willingness to help the US destroy the terrorist infrastructure in that country brought a big financial windfall such as loan write-off and restructuring, plus generous US grants which swelled our foreign exchange reserves to $12 billion.
This included a few billion bought by the State Bank with their excess rupee liquidity from the foreign exchange dealers. Can those who are singing the praises of Mr Aziz tell the people of Pakistan why is there so much poverty and unemployment in Pakistan? What has $13 billion in foreign exchange done for the struggling impoverished middle-class? Why does the international investing community consider Pakistan unfavourably?
Mr Aziz has served his benefactors well by increasing the defence budget to Rs. 194 billion in addition to the hidden billions disguised in the civilian budget.
He has increased the profits defence savings certificates to 10.8 per cent and reduced profits on special savings certificates to 6.9 per cent thereby destroying the middle- class.
What is the true state of our country? Inflation has gone up to 8.5 per cent as per government figures, though it is in double digits by more realistic estimates. Wheat flour, the staple food of the common man, has gone up by Rs 10 to Rs 12 per five kilo bag. Everyday food requirements such as milk, vegetables, cooking oil and everything else has shot up where is our financial expert leaving no to?
A. REHMAN
Hyderabad
India's motive behind defence hike
India has increased its defence budget by 18 per cent from Rs653 billion last year to Rs770 billion this year. It plans to buy Rs 334 billion worth of military hardware which includes a Russian aircraft carrier, French Scorpene submarines, 126 French Mirage jet fighters, 150 SU-30 Mk 1 aircraft and 300 T-90 tanks.
At the same time, it has reduced funding for rural employment from Rs9,640 crore to Rs4,590 crore and slashed its rural development budget by 39 per cent. The question is why is it in a hurry to multiply its military capability while simultaneously engaged in peace talks? Is it to intimidate Pakistan or China or is it to project its image as "Mighty India" to the world? Pakistan possesses only defensive capability and is no threat to India.
China likewise has no aggressive designs and is concentrating on its economic development. India is thinking and behaving big after failing to show its "shine" in the last elections. This is ostensibly to bully neighbours into compliance and trivializing the Kashmir dispute.
It wants to become a global player and has its eyes on a permanent seat at the UN. It appears that India's real motive behind the current escalation is to starve Pakistan economically by involving it in an arms race.
We can ill afford to do that as we are already spending 5.5 per cent of our GDP against India's 2.8 per cent. The world community should be asked to use its good offices to prevail upon India to reach an honorable settlement of Kashmir.
LT-GEN (RETD) S. M. H. BOKHARI
Rawalpindi
Devil and the deep sea
One of the English newspapers while commenting on the Sindh situation has commented that "Musharraf has been caught between the devil and the deep sea."Karachi being the most important city of the country has been made a target of terrorism to create uncertainty in the rest of the country.
Pakistan, itself a victim of terrorism, obviously has to face increasing resistance from terrorist groups in the shape of bomb explosions, political attacks, sectarian killings and assassination attempts even on the president himself.
Terrorism is a great threat not only to Pakistan but to the international community. The real challenge is the war on terror. It needs lots of sacrifices, courage, and morality with resolve to fight against terrorism.
Pakistan faced this challenge squarely and while fighting this menace has to get tough as well. The present government under General Musharraf is doing very well in fighting against this terrorism which has not only taken Pakistan out of international isolation but has also earned us a lot of respect and standing in the international community.
It is ironical that those who discuss national issues go wildly biased and ignore the hard realities. We should make our ideas more constructive and in the best interests of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan.
YOUSAF ALAMGIRIAN
Rawalpindi
Slaughter of trees
Apropos of the editorial "Slaughter of trees" July 20 and earlier columns on similar themes by depicting apathy of society on destruction and despoliation of the ecology of the country.
Almost regularly, people come across with grisly news of depriving the nation of its share of this natural bounty on the pretext of constructing some project or the same felling prey to some timber mafia.
Very recently such mayhem was reported in Karachi's posh locality just opposite a five-star hotel. This invited one or two articles and an editorial in this paper and nothing significant came the dustbin of history.
Mr Ayaz Amir and Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee, the now cutting of full-grown mango trees planted on an 125-acre orchard in a village of Nawabshah district, for lack of water is a new phenomenon.
The owner of the orchard a few days ago issued a warning in an unusual manner by inviting distinguished people from all over province to witness the fateful occasion. Disappointingly, nothing was done at the official level to dissuade the owner from acting on his plan.
In a country which is blessed by nature with five rivers, scarcity of water in one province to such an extent is inconceivable. Information gathered by this writer reveals that since sufficient water is not discharged into the Indus, the water- level even in the littoral areas of the river has gone down to 55 to 60 feet when the roots of even a non-fruit bearing tree (fruit bearing trees can go up to 110 to 115 feet) do not go beyond 30 to 35 feet.
If this situation persists, the province of Sindh, which is already deprived of its reverine forests and coastal mangroves, will soon be completely denuded of trees and turned into a desert.
The scant regard shown to perpetrating outrageous acts on the environment reflects total insensitivity of the authorities on the one hand, and more important, indifference of the public at large. Under these circumstance, the message is very clear that we lack all concern for the environment which is tantamount to desecration of nation.
ALTAMASH MANZOOR H. KURESHI
Karachi
Typhoid vaccine
Typhoid or the enteric fever is one of the most common killer diseases because of its complications, like perforation of the intestines and bleeding, meningism and toxemia.
Prevention of the disease is done by adopting strict hygienic measures in food, drinking water, milk and clearing of vectors like the house fly, as has been satisfactorily achieved in Britain and the United States of America.
Immunization by TAB vaccine, one of the commonest manufactured in the National Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad, can be also be done but there is a meagre supply in the district hospitals.
WHO through its EPI programmes can ensure its availability and administration to the masses along with seven other vaccines of the EPI. Government public health departments can take an interest of elimination of this dangerous disease, which is the cause of loss of many lives.
DR RAFIQUE AHMED MIRZA
Karachi
More women in CSS jobs
Encouraged by many recent appeals on various matters of public importance that have appeared in these columns, I would like to put forward an important appeal. I hope it will not go unheeded.
Now that Pakistan has started to address issues of women development, one would appeal to the president and to the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) to pay greater attention to recruiting more women, through the CSS examinations and other policy measures.
Now that women are quite well represented in parliament, there seems little justification to keep them away in the superior services. The FPSC should fix a quota for women from FATA, Balochistan and the rural areas of the other provinces so that they can be provided with job opportunities.
The board should try to be not very inflexible with female applicants when it comes to cut-off marks and the required interview . It should instead look for promise and potential in such applicants and select those candidates who have these qualities even if the marks on the test are not that high.
The FPSC should consider these suggestions and implement them from the current batch which took the CSS exam in 2003 which has only two women from the NWFP and one from Balochistan.
RIDAH AHMAD
Lahore
Help who?
Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee's letter on saving the mango groves of Syed Bashir Ahmed Shah whose invitation he received for the "Funeral" in your 14th July issue, does not really surprise one. In this country who cares?
But I must say the card is a novel idea. Maybe invitations should be issued to witness various incidents of death of countless people in bomb blasts, accidents, killings, kara kori, rapes, contaminated water and food, shootings, muggings, robberies, target killings, extortions etc. etc. etc.
Tell me, "Is there any man or woman amongst us who read this letter and can save" thousands of precious "well-loved" human beings, citizens of this Islamic Republic of Pakistan, leave alone thousands of "well loved" mango trees?
I think not.
S. BABAR
Karachi
Safe houses
"US forces conducted an air strike against a Mujahideen safe house in Fallujah" (July 6). How can the Americans call a house "safe" when they want to destroy it?
Z.A. KAZMI
Karachi
Children and drugs
At a recent visit to Karachi's Cantonment station I was accosted by a young child who was begging for food. He seemed heavily intoxicated and asked me to give him some food.
After handing him one biscuit, what followed was more shocking. Within minutes I was surrounded by many more such boys. Some of them had syringes and most seemed to be younger than ten.
Drugs is a serious problem our society is facing but the age of those children was shocking. Why are those children allowed to roam around railway platforms? Who will answer this, or will everyone ignore such issues and pretend that they don't exist.
SAMEER BEG
Karachi
Banking courts' working
Banking courts were established with the idea of early disposal of cases, so that public money would be properly utilized, the economy strengthened and defaulters and non-serious businessmen prevented from taking loans from banks/NBFCs.
Now what is happening is indeed a matter of great concern. Decisions are pending at all banking courts have an average age of more than five years. Sometimes it appears that lawyers of the two parties are interested in obtaining long adjournments and satisfy their clients by saying that the laws are like that and they cannot help in this respect.
It is the desire of the defaulters that the banks / NBFCs approach the banking courts because they know that by going to court they will get relief, and the defaulters will be at ease that now they are not even required to pay installments. Since there is no time bar in the law to decide a case, bankers have to suffer.
JAVED AHMED KHAN
Karachi
Natural gas price rise
The increase in price of natural gas announced is an unfair and an unfriendly measure. The move will hit the middle class badly because many of them CNG as fuel for their vehicles.
The fact is that total of natural gas sold to CNG Stations by Sui Northern and Sui Southern comes to less than two per cent of their overall sales. By increasing prices by six per cent, these companies will not solve any of their own internal problems but will certainly upset the budgets of many a middle-income household.
Consider the opposite. If CNG prices could be reduced by even trucks would throw out their smoke-emitting diesel engines and convert to gas. What this government basically lacks is love, affection and feeling for the people and is blinded in its lust for growth rate targets. Mr President, sir, shall I mail my CNG kit to you?
M. AFZAL Khan
Faisalabad
Ghost highrises
There are many buildings in Clifton which lie in incomplete position for over ten years. It is heard that their cases are pending with KBCA, although these buildings are stayed, massive shopping centres flourish are not these shops in danger as the incomplete structure above continues to dilapidate due to the elements.
These structures have not been built overnight. The KBCA is equally responsible for the hidden nudge to build despite of the stay orders. The KBCA announced that it plans to regularise these buildings. Since the builders have lost interest in the projects it seems the ghosts who dwell in the flats will pay the fines and complete the projects.
RAFI ADAMJEE
Karachi
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