| March 04, 2007 | Sunday | Safar 14, 1428 |
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Employment abroad
House job
HEC’s ride to fantasyland
Transplantation Ordinance
Custom clearance
Civil governance
Size of currency notes
Helping hands
Jheel Park in pitiable condition
Selection of hockey team
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
THIS refers to a news item, ‘Organs of state are not rivals: Chief Justice’ ( Feb 25). The chief justice of Pakistan said: “…. The court had moved faster in providing relief to the common man in the exercise of different types of its jurisdiction, the original, the appellate and the review.”
I admire and pray for the growing good image of the judiciary. I, therefore, take this opportunity to invite the CJ’s kind attention to a landmark case law: “PLD 2000 SC 770 — commonly known as Dr Aslam Khaki case” — needing implementation since ages, thereby denying this special law’s benefits to the general public.
The parties creating hurdles in this regard were earlier ordered strict compliance within one-and-a half years. There was no excuse available for them to pray the Supreme Court to review / rescind the judgment. Had there been any valid requirement for their petition, they would not have been sitting idle not utilizing the one-and-a half years given to them for their necessary homework.
However, in the nick of time, they approached the newly set up SC for review. The court did not review. However they were lucky not to get any stricture but to get one more year to comply with the law.
Thus the review part of the SC jurisdiction has more than sufficiently been availed as per the above-quoted CJ’s remarks. However, the parties were persistently defying the law. At the expiry of the one-year-extended period, the parties concerned approached the Supreme Court and surprisingly succeeded in getting the settled law unsettled through an unheard-of- remand order.
On the other end, perhaps, the FSC judges found themselves in a quandary over the issue as to how best they could fulfil the norms of justice. Hence the seven-year-long delay occurred.
Would it, therefore, not be the best course of action if the case in question be called back to the SC, where it actually belongs, rescinding its previous remand commandments? If this judicial score is settled, the SC backlog will be reduced.
MOHAMMAD AHMAD
Karachi
THERE are fewer Pakistanis working in Gulf countries, Europe and the US than Indian nationals. This is because employers prefer to recruit only Indian nationals to the exclusion of Pakistanis.
It appears our labour and manpower ministry is doing nothing about the situation. One reason for the Indians’ employment is that at most places there are Indian nationals sitting in the human resource departments of the foreign companies and when Pakistanis apply for jobs, either their applications are not processed or if they are processed, it is finally the Indian nationals who are given the jobs.
This is an alarming situation. In the times to come, if Pakistanis will not get their due share in employment in the countries mentioned above, this will drastically reduce the amount of foreign exchange that Pakistani nationals send to their family members on a monthly basis.
Employment opportunities for Pakistanis abroad, more particularly in Europe or the United States of America, are reduced significantly. After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001, a lot of Pakistanis have been denied job opportunities, not only in the private sector but also in the government departments and have finally returned home.
Although Pakistan is a key ally of the US and its allies in the war against terror, a number of Pakistanis have returned home from the West either due to hate crimes or job opportunities for them have been substantially reduced.
Our government should seek a comprehensive report from our missions abroad as to what are the main reasons that Pakistanis are not getting their due share in the fresh job opportunities that are announced from time to time in Gulf countries, Europe and in the US, comparing with the ratio and proportion of the Indian nationals. Where do the Pakistanis lag behind?
A mechanism should be adopted by our embassies working in the above-mentioned countries, with a request to our mission chiefs to send their monthly reports as to how many Pakistani nationals got employment in the area in which the individual embassy is functioning.
This will help our government in removing the bottlenecks that do not allow foreign companies and governments to recruit Pakistani nationals.
SYED A. MATEEN
Karachi
I AM doing a house job in Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital after passing my MBBS from the Sindh Medical College in 2006. I joined the hospital in September. It is almost six moths since I have joined I have not been paid the monthly stipends. When I approached the Jinnah Hospital authorities, they drew a blank about it.
The main reason is red tape is involved in the payment of monthly stipend. Hospital authorities put the blame on the Sindh government which, in turn, puts the blame on the provincial finance department. This vicious circle goes on.
This is sheer injustice and apathy on the part of the Sindh government to detain the salaries of doctors doing house job in government hospitals in Sindh.
Also, the house doctors are passing through another mental agony. They have to put in a night duty after every three days which extends to 30 hours without any break. There is a limit to human tolerance and physical endurance. Under these conditions how the house doctors can perform their duty efficiently.
Further, there is no canteen in the Jinnah Hospital where these doctors can take their lunch and dinner. They have to go as far away as the Kidney Centre to fetch their meals. Although such a sorry state of affairs exists in the hospital, its administration does not care at all.
I would request the House Doctors Association to take up these vital issues affecting them and bring about a healthy change in the working conditions of the house doctors. I would also appeal to the Sindh government to rectify maladministration in Sindh government hospitals so that they may have a favourable working condition.
AN AFFECTED PERSON
Karachi
Dr Hoodhboy’s typically trenchant and compelling plea (letter, Feb 28) to stay the HEC’s incontinence will surely be met by yet another ludicrous response from the HEC’s full-time media brigade. Before the reader gets swayed by the magic carpet ride to the HEC’s fantasyland, I would like to cite the case of a leading private sector university in Lahore which too is flapping its wings to launch a billion-rupee plus engineering school.
While they have managed to net a well-reputed and competent dean from a leading US school, finding quality faculty to fill the fourscore or more faculty positions is turning into a bit of a nightmare.
In keeping with the standards of academic merit he is used to, the dean rejected all but one faculty member from the much-trumpeted computer science faculty the university already had. And as our universities go, the faculty in question is arguably among the best, if not the best in Pakistan.
Dr Hoodhboy’s concern about the quality of the faculty is absolutely basic and essential; and even if a few young scholars do emerge from the droves the HEC seems intent on shipping them abroad, including many to dubious institutions, where they will be unable to lead and build the intended plethora of modern engineering schools.
If the HEC’s ambitions were just confined to fanciful power point presentations, we could all just get on with our business. Sadly, the HEC’s ride to fantasyland requires very scarce and almost gargantuan resources, which this poor country can hardly afford.
In this scenario, Dr Hoodhboy’s suggestion to try and build just two engineering universities would appear to be a challenge worth pursuing. The plans the HEC has will only lead to more relics marring an already decrepit and desolate academic landscape.
PROF WASIF M. KHAN
Lahore
PAKISTAN is the only Muslim country in the shameful transplant tourism trade involving millions of dollars. Poor bonded labourers are the sellers of kidney to the mafia of this trade, receiving fraction of the money doled out by the rich.
The proposed organ and tissue transplantation ordinance, on the one hand, gives an impression of condemning the organ trade and, on the other hand, makes an attempt to fully legalise it in the name of donation from ‘anybody’.
This vulgar attempt to please the mafia of kidney trade by some smart section officer of the health ministry shows the mentality of the people concerned who least bother for the image of Pakistan, which is already in a difficult situation in other contexts.
Stakeholders like transplant surgeons, nephrologists, SIUT, professional medical bodies are being bypassed or being hoodwinked. All for the sake of money only. Not for the patient or science or betterment of society.
We need tissue and organ transplantation law, safeguarding my patients’ right in a transparent way without any greed of money, based on humanitarian values.
What these surgeons, anaesthetic, hospital owners and the people of this hospital trade will do with this immoral, ill-gotten money which is being generated on the exploitation of human misery.
PROF. S. TIPU SULTAN
Ex-president, PMA, Karachi
I WOULD like to bring to the notice of customs high-ups the irregularities and corruption in custom clearance and operation of care system.
The first of all is import of used trucks and cranes by various commercial importers and its clearance under SRO 574 of 2006 against payment of 30 per cent fine. This SRO is being grossly abused. Not only this, the clearance of containers and the cargo packed in these containers , besides the declared goods, is going on in full swing.
The used trucks are being imported in SKD/CKD condition or partly in CBU condition, with many undeclared items in containers, mainly at the ports where the care system is operating.
The clearance and the examination is helped out by some officers while many items not declared have been cleared and not mentioned in the examination reports.
The department responsible is keeping a curtain on the eye to facilitate the importers and obtain their personal benefits in the shape of millions of rupees. These moneys are collected with the help of clearing agents, and contacts and entry numbers are communicated on cellphones to arrange speedy clearance without verifying engine and chassis numbers and without mentioning the undeclared items.
Also, clearance of used cars is being helped by the so-called foolproof system of care in the same manner and many costly accessories are cleared without the payment of custom duties and taxes.
Although the rule shows that many used items and machinery and some of the used trucks are not importable being more than 10 years old and contravention of such rule is punishable under Custom Act vide SRO 574 of 2006. This SRO was mainly issued for the clearance of certain consignments that got stuck at the end of financial year 2005-06 for a certain period, but many involved in the racket are lingering the length of the SRO and are using this as a tool to avoid ban of many items.
It is not understood as to why these SROs are issued in the presence of relevant rules and why SROs are used for such a long period to let all commercial importers avoid the rules imposed by the budget and import policy.
This matter not only needs to be investigated by the relevant department but the CBR should also rethink the system and its implications.
Import of such type of used trucks and cars facilitated by the underhand dealing of the customs staff even in care is causing huge damage to the local industry. It is hoped that senior officers and responsible sectors would draw the attention of the ministry of commerce and ministry of finance towards the matter.
It is also hoped senior and honest custom officers would consider amending the present system of appraisement in the care and manual clearance.
There are many other irregular practices as regards import of used machinery of many kinds. The illegal import of used containers by many shipping companies is a point in case. Many yards and facilitators are selling used empty containers (dry cargo containers) without having paid the custom duty of the same and many such containers are physically present in many yards around the port area.
These containers are mainly released on security to various importers and returned to shipping companies but the shipping companies are either claiming their insurance money on account their being stolen or damaged.
Such containers mainly land in the yards of companies using these containers for making of office accommodation for various oil companies and construction companies.
MUHAMMAD NASIR
Karachi
THE tragic death of a senior bureaucrat who collapsed on the doorstep of the office of the prime minister a few days ago raises a number of pertinent questions about the state of civil governance in Pakistan and the environment in which civil servants are required to deliver.
Not long ago a senior additional secretary in the federal government proceeded on early retirement citing a number of factors for his decision. The factors included denial of merit, political pressures, and lack of transparency in the public affairs of the state.
The government in its exuberance to implement structural reforms on the dictates of foreign masters has attached undue priority to privatisation of state-owned enterprises, thus putting extraordinary pressure on the Privatisation Commission to deliver in total disregard to equity, fair play, transparency and adherence to good parameters of public policy.
The recent privatisation of the KESC, the PTCL, Allied Bank, Pak-American Fertiliser, and not to ignore Pakistan Steel fiasco, had cast serious doubt on the transparency of the whole process in the PC and involvement of cabinet committee on privatisation, of which the prime minister is the chairman.
Unfortunately, in the absence of a credible accountability framework in the country and especially with the dormant role of the auditor-general of Pakistan, poor civil servants would continue to face the music.
In order to meet the trade deficit and budgetary gap the government have to depend on privatisation proceeds.
Interestingly, $7 billion received as privatisation proceeds has helped the government in maintaining its much trumpeted $13 billion forex reserves, to the delight of the president of Pakistan.
In the end May Allah bless the soul of the late federal secretary of the Privatisation Commission.
JAVED N.MALIK
Lahore
THIS refers to Qutubuddin Aziz's letter 'Size of currency notes' (Feb 20). The observations of Mr Aziz about the size and the quality of the new currency notes are very much pertinent and reflect the views of the crosssection of society.
The colours of our old currency notes are quite impressive. There wasn't any need to change it because it would have facilitated the people, overwhelming majority of whom are illiterate and, therefore, they recognise the notes by their colour and size.
In such a scenario, resemblance of Rs20 currency note with that of Rs5,000 is also causing problems. Recently a lady passenger, in a hurry paid Rs5,000 currency note in place of Rs 20 to a rickshaw driver. Subsequently, when she realised the mistake, she became upset as she was from a middle class family.
The design and the security features of the new notes deserve appreciation though their size, colour and quality of paper need improvement.
SOHAIL A. KHAN
Karachi
I WOULD like to get in touch with Babar S. Hasan of Boston, US, who replied to my letter titled ‘A Bittersweet victory’ (Dec 28, 2006) with his letter titled ‘Helping hands’ (Jan 9, 2007)
ZAINAB SHAFI
Karachi
THE Society Jheel Park, situated near Tariq Road, Karachi, is in a pitiable condition. It seems the park has been deliberately left abandoned to be ultimately handed over to the land mafia, which has already occupied a big chunk of its land and is now eying greedily the remaining part of this park.
There is a natural pond of water in the park where in olden days people used to come to hunt migratory birds but now it is in a deplorable condition due to haphazardly-grown grass which has totally covered it and lack of maintenance.
It has also become an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes, especially dengue. The major threat, however, is that of fire. The trees have become dried and their branches which are sort of explosives may catch fire any time, especially during the coming summer months.
This fire may be caused by heroin addicts who roam about freely in the park and can act as agents of land mafia, because such a fire will engulf the whole park as well as the nearby residential area.
I will, therefore, appeal to the city nazim to visit this park to see for himself its pitiable condition and do the needful.
K. MURAD BEY
Karachi
THE recent selection of Pakistan’s under 18 hockey team has raised many doubts about the integrity of the selection committee. Dawn’s sports correspondent reported (with evidence) that at least four overage players have been selected.
In fact these players have been attending the Pakistan Hockey Federation’s training camps since 2002 and in one case since 2001. Still not only have they been selected but the chief selector, Khalid Mahmood, has defended the selection.
When the reporter pointed out the presence of the overage players in training camps held in 2001 and 2002, Khalid Mahmood replied that the PHF has no such records.
This also speaks of the PHF’s inefficiency. Already the news item has been posted on international hockey-related websites. Not only is this selection unjust to deserving budding players, but it will also bring a bad name to the country.
The matter might also be taken up by the International Hockey Federation.
The PHF president, Zafarullah Jamali, should act immediately. The chief selector should be dismissed and fresh selection should be ordered.
Moreover to ensure fair selection, medical tests like wrist tests should be carried out to rule out overage players.
SAJID BUTT
Sialkot
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