| December 21, 2006 | Thursday | Ziqa'ad 29, 1427 |
To send a letter to the Editor
Click here
Ranking universities
Good governance
Not so grand schemes
Corruption on the rise
Reimbursement
Unjust to women
Parc’s 25 years of research
Deaths at wedding
Nullah at Clifton
Low gas pressure
Woes of KPT pensioners
Road work
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
PROF Khalid Hassan Mahmood, in his letter ‘Hydel profit’ (Dec 4), wonders how Wapda, in the face of its own problems, would pay the huge amount of Rs110 billion (on account of arrears for the years 1991 to 2005). He thinks that ‘unnecessary’ political pressure is being applied on this ‘great organisation’ by people who thrive on regional politics. In his view the ‘useless formula’ (AGN Qazi’s formula) should be abandoned as tariffs on electricity are already high.
According to Article 161 of the Constitution, net hydel profit goes to the province in which power is generated. AGN Qazi calculates the net profit on the basis of total revenue of hydel power minus the cost of transmission and distribution and by deducting the cost of generation, operational expenses, depreciation and renewal costs.
The methodology proposed by the AGN Qazi Committee was approved by the Council of Common Interests at its meeting held on Jan 12, 1991. At present 33 per cent of our power is generated by hydel and 67 per cent by thermal means. Hydel power is very cheap (58 paisas per unit), while thermal power is very expensive (Rs4.34 per unit).
Out of 73,500 million units of total annual generation, 25,500 million units are generated by hydel power, of which 13,800 million units are generated in the NWFP. Power consumption in the NWFP is only 5,500 million units. These figures show that the entire consumption in the NWFP is from the hydel source, while 19,500 million units of hydel and 48,000 million units of thermal power are consumed in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.
Thermal power, which is about eight times more expensive than the hydel power, is entirely consumed in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. With a uniform tariff, it is sold at a heavily subsidised rate. As the bulk of power is utilised in these three provinces, they get a hidden subsidy worth billions of rupees.
Suppose thermal power is being sold with a subsidy of Re1 per unit, then Wapda is giving a subsidy of Rs48 billion annually to Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan (actual yearly amount of subsidy may be Rs100 billion or more). The net hydel profit which goes constitutionally to the NWFP is only a fraction of what is being given to other provinces without any legal cover. Prof Khalid may check the above figures with Wapda. Whether Wapda or Nepra is competent to allow the subsidy also needs to be checked.
FAQIR AHMAD PARACHA
Peshawar
THIS has reference to Dr K. M. Larik’s letter ‘Ranking of universities’ (Nov 20). There is no disagreement among academics and to some extent the Higher Education Commission (HEC) itself that ranking procedures will have to be fine-tuned with time and it is an international norm to have a number of ranking systems in a country. It is also true that institutes offering professional qualifications need to be assessed by different criteria than the general universities.
With reference to some of the claims made by Dr Larik, I would like to submit the following:
a. Textile Institute of Pakistan, Karachi, was set up by members of All- Pakistan Textile Mills Association in 1994, offering degrees in textile science and textile management and marketing to start with and further expanded to textile design technology and apparel manufacturing and merchandising.
Right from day one, all honours programmes at TIP have been four-year degrees and internationally accepted for post-graduate entry.
Furthermore, due to affiliation and academic linkages, TIP students have had options of transferring their credits after two years in relevant programmes at Clemson University (South Carolina, USA) and the University of Manchester (UK). Hence the Institute of Business Management (IoBM) is not the first private institution to offer four-year degrees.
b. Providing a PC to each faculty members should now be considered a basic necessity and the total number of computers and the total strength of full-time faculty and visiting faculty members is relative to the total number of students enrolled in the institution.
TIP has a total student strength of around 450 and we have approximately 40 faculty members (with just over 50 per cent full-time) together with 100 computers for students’ use.
I am sure the points given under different sections by the HEC in their last ranking were based on the student-teacher and student-computer ratio rather than the total number of faculty and computers.
It must be emphasised here that the purpose of ranking exercise is first to create awareness among students and parents and, second, to initiate a critique process which all universities and institutes must take it with a positive attitude.
The best evaluation any academic institution can get is from their customers, initially the students themselves and later on their employers and if we are able to satisfy them, we surely are doing our job right.
DR ZUBAIR BANDUKDA
President, Textile Institute of Pakistan
THIS is to draw attention of the readers and the government high-ups to a masterpiece of good governance in Islamabad.
There are two points for entering Islamabad: one via G.T. Road from Rawat town and the other from the Motorway or Peshawar Mor.
The issue is that the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has imposed a sizable toll for entrance into Islamabad. This is primarily for the sake of development of road infrastructure.
However, both the entrance roads are in bad condition. The motorway side was constructed a few months ago but started deteriorating all of a sudden since inception. Now travelling on this road is a great misery. The CDA might have dozens of arguments, mainly regarding overloaded trucks and heavy-duty traffic, but the enforcement of rules in the area was also the obligation of the CDA. Besides, the overloading was not started all of a sudden, rather it was a chronic issue. Therefore, the road should have been built to bear the overload capacity. But unfortunately this issue was perhaps not a matter of concern for the CDA.
On the other hand, the Islamabad highway that provides an important link to Islamabad with G. T. Road has been under construction for more than one-and-a-half years. At the moment, only one lane is running and the other is closed for construction purposes. The pace of work is very slow. Apparently, there is no major construction task, except for carpeting, as bridges and other infrastructures are already in place.
It is astonishing that a 15-kilometre-long piece of road could not be completed in more than 18 months. The suffering of the people commuting to Islamabad from both entrance points are mounting day by day but the high-ups are least bothered. The impatient attitude of some drivers, especially of public transport and trucks, add to people’s misery.
The CDA, which is mainly responsible for all this mismanagement, has even not bothered to withdraw toll tax until the road infrastructure is properly constructed.
AHMED NOMAN
Islamabad
THE road adjacent to Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman Road which leads to the race course has been in bad shape since the summer rains. An effort was under way a month or so ago to rectify the sewage lines which seemed to be the cause of the problem. Now the road, which was initially partially carpeted with rocks, is dug up at places. Parts of it are submerged in water, the only saving grace being that now the water is not sewage water but muddy water of the ordinary sort.
A couple of days ago, the city government carried out a paid advertisement congratulating itself for its grand schemes. For the sake of fairness, I think it would be appropriate for the city government to carry out another ‘apologetic’ supplement which would explain to the city folk why so many of its smaller and not so grand schemes to repair roads and sewage lines (I am witness to the ones in Clifton area; but as your newspaper has pointed out, there are more) are yet to be implemented since summer.
HUZAIFA ZOOMKAWALA
Karachi
THIS has reference to Mr Irfan Husain’s column ‘Corruption on the rise’ (Dec 16) quoting a report by the Transparency International that moved Pakistan from 87 to 142 of 163 nations on the corruption index.
The corruption index or the TI barometer correlates with the type of governments in power.
In Pakistan, the GHQ’s has established that each time an elected government was in power, Pakistan experienced a higher degree of corruption relative to the ‘dictatorship’ in place.
The commando president has given Pakistan a ‘true’ democracy. An unintended consequence of increasing democratisation is that Pakistan has now reached new heights on the corruption index.
Corruption is on the rise and to make peace with India the government no longer claims Kashmir in its resoluteness to solve the Kashmir problem. What next, Mr President?
Is it, now, time for the next army general to seize power for cleansing the system?
KISHAN BHATIA
Katy (TX), USA
MEDICAL reimbursement claim for Rs161,710 in respect of the under named was forwarded by the ministry of defence to the federal ministry of health vide letter No. 225/D-22/2005 dated 20-09-2005 for concurrence and payment and has been pending since then.
Is there anyone to look into the matter?
SHAFI MUHAMMAD JUMANI
Principal (r), F.G. Public School,
Panoakil Cantt.
THIS refers to the column, ‘Unjust to women’, by Irfan Husain and rejoinder by Khwaja Khusro Tariq (Dec 13). Mr Husain had quoted a young woman correspondent from the US.
She had asked him why should she remain a Muslim, given the low status accorded in the scripture to her gender. Also, that women in non-Muslim societies now enjoyed far more rights than their Muslim sisters, so why should she follow a faith that made her inferior to men?
It would have been more appropriate and satisfying for the lady to ask this from any of the numerous female converts to Islam in the US, such as the well-educated Canadian lady who had embraced Islam many years ago and has now been elected as the head of Islamic Society of North America. Obviously, such converts are not naïve enough to give up the prevalent system in favour of one that lowers their status.
It may be interesting for her to hear that Ms Marilyn Morington, a British judge, had said in a seminar that Islam is the true guardian of women’s rights. She recited verses from the Holy Quran and referred to the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and stated: “Islam is a religion which lays emphasis on giving the women their due rights” (Dec 2, 2005).
The Japanese academic, Dr Sachiko Murata, who teaches religious studies at an institution in the US and is married to the well-known American scholar and convert Dr William C. Chittick, has observed in her book, The Tao of Islam:
“The reform (the western feminists) have in view (for Islam) is of the standard modern western type . . . (It) is of the same lineage as the western imperialism that originally appeared in the East as Christian missionary activity. The white man’s burden gradually expanded its horizons … The ‘orientalist’ perspective fits nicely … into this triumphalistic approach to non-western societies. Here we have the masculine impulse toward domination run wild …
“Certain forms of feminism seem to fit the same line of thinking. We see new variants on the old, domineering, and negatively masculine attitude known as proselytism. In the Islamic world – or, in the Japanese world, for that matter – its appeal has only been heard by those who have lost touch with their own intellectual and spiritual universe.”
This should provide the correspondent with a proper perspective on western feminism. Significantly, a recent report in the New York Times based on a Gallup poll conducted on 8,000 women in Muslim countries (Dawn, June 10) showed that their overwhelming majority said the best aspect of their cultures was their countries’ “attachment to moral and spiritual values” – which confirms Prof Murata’s assessment – and that they do not feel oppression in Muslim countries.
S. QADRI
Karachi
THE Pakistan Agricultural Research Council on its “25 years excellence in agricultural research” gives one a good glance of the strides made by it in agricultural research in Pakistan (Dawn, Dec 12). The broad-based research programmes and achievements are laudable for the country.
The Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC) -– a semi-government cotton research organisation, has also made great strides and contributed to developing Pakistan as a cotton country.
Due to its network of research institutes and stations, cotton is being grown in all parts of the country. The PCCC is working against all odds of staff and financial handicaps.
It would be equally good if the PCCC and other autonomous research institutions brought out ‘supplements on their achievement during the last 50 or so years. They should highlight their present achievements and the future programmes so that taxpayers could be proud of their existence.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
IT was with deep regret that I read the news about the recent wedding deaths in Dera Ghazi Khan. Early reports suggest an electrical short-circuit sparked the blaze.
It is a miracle that this sort of thing hasn’t occurred more often considering the outfits who set up these tents and their associated lighting have criminal disregard for public safety when hooking up to the residential electrical distribution board. I’ve often had my uncle lecture them about this at our weddings but it’s a case of in one ear out the other.
All of these companies ought to be closed down until they pass through a training course certifying them for safe working practices and then spot checks done by safety inspectors.
I hope the investigations lead to criminal prosecutions. I urge the government to take the necessary steps to ensure that proper measures are put in place and the safety of the public is protected.
RIZWAN JAFRI
London, UK
FOLLOWING the demolition in August of the storm-water drain, the environmental condition of Block-7, Bath Island, Karachi, has deteriorated, creating a serious health threat to its residents and people of the adjoining areas.
The debris and waste sludge has accumulated alongside the road leading to Block 7 and the Aga Khan Park. The demolished nullahs have turned the entire area to look like Lyari and Malir rivers.
The civic agencies concerned should do the needful.
ASHRAF DHARANI
Karachi
I am a resident of 26 Manzar Alam Road, which takes off from Shaheed-i-Millat Road Pizza Hut. Lately several high-rise apartments have been built along this road, increasing the load and consequently reducing the gas pressure, due to addition of many more households, as compared to the original number of houses for which this was initially designed.
As a result, the gas pressure has been considerably reduced, especially between 11am and 4pm, which is the actual time for cooking of main meals. This is causing considerable hardship to the genuine residents.
Several complaints made to the company authorities during many months at various levels have brought no results.
Higher authorities of the Sui Southern Gas Company are requested to rectify the situation by increasing the pressure, or changing the gas supply pipeline, to suit the actual number of gas consumer households to ease this ordeal of the residents of this area at the earliest.
S.M.H. RIZVI
Karachi
LIKE the White House PRO, Tony Snow, the KPT PRO, too, has come out with a poor justification for the harassment we suffer (KPT clarifies: letter, Nov 17). So, as the White House has given Halliburton the monopoly for Iraq’s reconstruction, the KPT has given Bahria Medical Store the monopoly to supply medicines that are not available in the KPT hospital.
But, in heaven’s name, why can’t the KPT let the patients obtain the medicines themselves from the supplier as is the prevalent practice in all other institutions? If the KPT mercifully allowed them to do so, they could not only start the treatment the same day but also save the money and the physical strength in having to travel to the hospital again after two days to collect the medicines.
YASEEN HUSSAIN QIZILBASH
Karachi
TALAGANG-Mianwali Road, about 100-km-long, was one of the best maintained roads in Punjab. It provides a vital link between the north and the south of Pakistan via Talagang. Instead of improving the road compacted by decades of vehicular traffic, about two years ago the entire length of the road was dismantled and covered with crushed stones of pointed edges for vehicular traffic to compact it for the contractor at the cost of safety and comfort of the commuters with extra cost of fuel and possible damage to tyres.
The main contractor has subcontracted to smaller contractors and the construction is going at a snail’s pace. No one in authority seems to be bothered about the plight of commuters and vehicle owners.
The higher authorities should look into the matter.
MALIK FATEH KHAN
Talagang
You can also send letters to the Editor
Just send your message to the following address: letters@dawn.com
Make sure you include your full name, postal address, e-mail address, and in the case of Pakistan your day-time telephone number.