| November 10, 2008 | Monday | Ziqa'ad 11, 1429 |
Workings of traffic police
Is numbers the issue or service delivery?
The government of this city district has launched a rather vigorous campaign against plastic shopping bags, commonly known as ‘shoppers.’ There have been advertisements in the print media announcing strict measures against those who violate the ban and provide merchandise in the evil shoppers, and it seems the scare campaign is working, what with raids being conducted and shopkeepers genuinely scared.
In my neighbourhood and beyond, shopkeepers of every hue have flatly refused customers’ demands to provide plastic shopping bags with the purchased goods. “Look, police mobiles are doing the rounds. If they see any person walking about with a shopper in hand, they immediately ask the person where they got it from. Nine out of 10 people will point the finger at the shopkeeper guilty of the offence and the cops will haul us away,” said my agitated grocer when I asked what the deal was.
Admittedly, shoppers will face initial difficulty as it’s pretty damn difficult to carry apples and pears home in your hands. But the plastic shopping bags are a genuine menace. The choked nullahs with overflowing gutters across this city are largely the result of countless plastic shopping bags ending up in them, along with of course neglect as far as de-silting is concerned on part of the municipal authorities.
But perhaps with time we shall get used to more environmentally-friendly alternatives to the dreaded shoppers. Cloth bags and plastic baskets are an ideal alternative. And interestingly, there seems to be a fair amount of public support for the campaign. I was talking to one of the neighbourhood chowkidars about the subject and he said: “Saab, this is a good campaign. These bags don’t decompose.” I was pleasantly surprised, particularly because someone had proved wrong my misplaced middle class notions of intellectual superiority.
As for those who manufacture plastic bags, in this age of economic depression, their concerns about impending ruination are very real. Maybe that’s why the CDGK has initiated talks with them, suspending the campaign. Perhaps the government can help them procure equipment for manufacturing paper bags, which might save many jobs in their industry.
The more cynical among us will say that as with all other things official, this campaign, too, will peter out with time. However, for the sake of the environment, we certainly hope it succeeds.
PS: Similar campaigns against profiteering, hoarding and criminal elements wouldn’t hurt, you know.—QAM
Tackling transport
Road conditions in Karachi are improving for which credit goes to the CDGK as the underpasses and flyovers especially the signal-free corridors have contributed immensely towards reducing traffic-load on the choked city roads. But the transport problem in itself remains a monumental one for which there seems to be no solution.
Being a Karachian for over most of my life I have yet to see any improvement in the transport system itself. In my schooldays I found people jostling and nudging for space in coaches and buses, standing precariously on footboards and even perched on the roof of these vehicles and three decades later the scene is still the same, if not worse.
There has been a lot of talk of underground or a monorail system but nothing seems to materialise into reality. Kolkata (Calcutta) is one of the most densely populated cities of the world yet it has built its own underground system. Why can’t we do the same?
Bureaucracy, corruption and lack of responsibility seem to be the answer. Besides, the transport mafia wields considerable influence in such matters.
Every organised and civilised city has an effective and systematic transport system that symbolises efficiency and planning but unfortunately our city lacks all this perhaps because good roads are meant for affluent motorists while a good transport system is for poor commuters.
—Farhan Sabir
Playgroups
little hearts need apt care and best schooling. Bearing this in mind, yours truly browsed through the internet, asked colleagues and friends, and visited different localities in search of the best playschools for his first-born. In the absence of any official rating, there was no option but to go through each and every playschool in the city despite knowing that a single visit wouldn’t be enough in any way to evaluate their standards.
Most schools register children and charge a few hundred rupees for that before holding any kind of assessment to grant admissions. There are a few reputed ones as well where parents are told to get their children registered first even if they want to see a classroom or meet teachers for any query. Once a child is successfully registered with the school, the parents are provided with a prospectus containing a general outline of the questions to be asked from the child at the time of admission. From twinkle, twinkle little star to ring a ring-o-roses; from the alphabet to counting; and from the names of parents to those of colours, the child must know all, as it’s just a pre-requisite for admission. The preparation goes on till the test date is announced or published as the case maybe according to the status of a school.
Even if the three-year-old is lucky enough to remember what was taught to him at the time of evaluation, there is a catch, for the reputed schools in addition to the child’s assessment also interview the parents. Sometimes they come up with an excuse like ‘we are sorry the school policy is that we prefer working mothers’.
Then there are some other pre-nurseries, which do not have such strict policies and thus grant admissions merely by charging an extra buck. The successful parents are asked to pay an admission fee, annual charges, volunteer donations, tuition fee and examination cost. Besides, a long list of stationery items to be purchased for their child is handed over to them.
Certainly many parents looking for better education of their child have no objection to all such demands. But yours truly happens to be a reclusive nonconformist who preferred to get his tiny tot admitted to a school not that classy. After all it was not a question of securing a seat in any distinguished medical college but one in a kindergarten for a three-year-old.—HA
Compiled by Syed Hassan Ali
karachian@dawn.com
Sir,
Recently, I was driving towards Seaview from the DHA Golf Course road in Phase 8. Upon taking a turn on the main road that leads to Seaview, I was asked to pull over by a traffic police sergeant. I obediently parked at the side.
I was asked to produce a copy of my registration and license, the reason being that the registration number plate on my car was too small to be seen from a distance. This was enough to infuriate me as the car bears a good sized number plate.
I asked the sergeant to tell me if he could not read the number from a reasonable distance. As it happened, he was not in a mood to listen. I asked him to issue a ticket, but guess what: I was charged Rs100 under Section 33 (which allows them to issue tickets for any act which is not punishable. The size of the registration plate is not punishable). Eventually, I paid the money and got my license.
What is the traffic department doing? The only instances where I have seen traffic police issuing tickets are (1) if you have jumped a signal and they have caught you and (2) using cellphone. Do they ever issue tickets for fast driving, inappropriate changing of lanes, double parking etc?
I appeal to the traffic department to please streamline the process.
JAWAD ALI SHAH Via e-mail
Tanker mafia active again
Sir,
We seek your help in highlighting the issue of water tanker mafia in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14.
Three years ago, the roads behind the Civic Centre, from Mashriq Centre to UK Plaza on main University Road, were in shambles, thanks to the water tankers and the hydrant behind the Civic Centre.
Besides the damage that was being done to the roads, it was almost impossible for pedestrians to walk because of the rash driving of the tanker drivers. It was after hectic efforts made by the local area councillor and other social workers in Gulshan-i-Iqbal that we finally managed to close down the hydrants from the residential area. Recently, people have been visiting this area, and the hydrant is being refurbished. Now, the water tankers usually make their trips at night to avoid opposition from the residents.
The rash driving by these drivers has again started to make lives miserable. The roads that have been freshly paved will again be in shambles. We urge the nazim and officials concerned to save the residents of Gulshan-i-Iqbal from the tanker mafia.
CONCERNED CITIZENS
Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14
Decline of education
Sir,
According to a report in Dawn (27-2-2008) 15 students of Pakistan achieved top positions in different subjects in the last Cambridge international exams. Among these students, six were from Lahore, eight from Islamabad and only one student from Karachi.
This speaks volumes about the sad state of affairs of education in Karachi. Intellectuals, educationists and politicians of the city should find out the causes of this downfall in the field of education.
Without achieving excellence in education, our children cannot compete in the job market or for scholarships from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
MIRZA SHAHID BARLAS
North Nazimabad
Double Masters at KU
Sir,
It is learnt through the media that the authority concerned of the University of Karachi is planning to impose a ban on seeking admission for double Masters in the evening shift as a measure to improve the prevalent law and order situation in the university.
Though the intention is right, it seems that the university has made the decision in haste without considering the impact of the decision on students.
It is a fact that due to inflation most students start their careers just after the completion of their Bachelors and to quench their thirst for further knowledge seek admission in the Masters programme in the evening shift. This decision could deprive such students from seeking higher education.
Therefore, it is requested that the authority concerned withdraw the decision of imposing such a ban and take the necessary measures to improve the law and order situation in the university.
MUHAMMAD ADNAN SIDDIQUI
Gulshan-i-Iqbal
Who owns Karachi?
Sir,
With reference to Bina Shah’s article ‘Who owns Karachi’?, maybe the devil does! We raise hue and cry about the power supply position and load-shedding, but when we go out in the streets, we see total disregard on this issue.
Take, for instance, the Saddar area, Zaibunnisa Street in particular, which I happened to pass by recently. It was disgusting to see the streets all lit up even in broad daylight. Certain shops are even decorated like marriage halls.
It is there for all to see, not only the general public but the high and mighty of the government also. And yet nobody has the guts or the will to do anything about it.
God only knows how we will solve all our other problems.
HASAN NURMOHD LAKANI
Garden East
city@dawn.com
THE trend of bifurcating ministries, creating new ministerial portfolios and upsizing the cabinet, which the previous administration of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had indulged in, has been continued under the present administration.
With the appointment of the second batch of ministers last week, the federal cabinet now totals 56 members – including the prime minister, 37 ministers and 18 ministers of state – making up 16 per cent of the total 342-member National Assembly.
The cabinet of the previous administration, which was dissolved in late 2007 for the general elections, also had 37 ministers.
The present federal cabinet, however, is expected to increase further in membership later, since there are seven vacant portfolios yet to be filled, most likely through another process of coalition government building.
Not surprisingly, the size of our cabinets has been the subject of criticism in recent years - both locally and abroad. Given the dire straits of the economy and public finances, it is only natural that big cabinets like ours should become targets of criticisms about state irresponsibility and wastage of public funds.
Apart from the budgetary factor, the other criticism of oversized cabinets point at the inefficiency arising from such large numbers of ministers and portfolios in the highest executive committee of the country.
This criticism of our federal cabinets – as well as other cabinets in many developing countries in Africa and Asia – has been levied in a recently published research article by Klimek, Hanel and Thurner, “To how many politicians should government be left?”
to the article, based on information gathered by the authors in October 2007, Pakistan has the third largest cabinet in the world with 38 members, after Sri Lanka with 54 members and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 40 members (only prime ministers, vice-premiers and ministers were counted).
The article attempts to provide empirical proof to support an earlier hypothesis that 20 is the critical size of government cabinets, beyond which government efficiency deteriorates.
The authors relate the cabinet size of 197 countries to several governance indicators assembled by the UNDP (the Human Development Indicator), the World Bank and the CIA, attempting to show that the higher the number of members in the cabinet, the more likely countries are politically less stable, less efficient and less developed.
No doubt the splintering of responsibilities into many ministries creates lots of coordination problems and inter-agency disputes, apart from problems of overlapping organisations and conflicting policies from different departments.
On the other hand, however, the increase in the number of districts, population and development schemes complicate the problems and needs of an integrated ministry such as, for example, communications and transportation, in a large developing country like Pakistan, so much so that it might probably be more efficient to separate it into different portfolios of railways, ports and shipping, aviation and roads and highways rather than lumping them all into a single mammoth ministry.
Those – especially in developed societies in which single-party governments are usually the norm – who criticise big cabinets in developing countries where coalition governments are common, also tend to underestimate the importance or relevance of large cabinets for democracy, constitutional dispensation and good governance in these societies.
In a developing democracy like Pakistan, failure to take the coalition-building political compulsions into consideration when forming the government and the cabinet – by trying to induct as many representatives into the government as possible from all groups, lobbies and vested interests – could result in a setback for democracy.
Moreover, the above article’s data on the correlation between cabinet size and the country’s overall efficiency show important exceptions. For example, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have large cabinets (27, 27 and 32 members respectively) but high efficiency scores. On the other hand, countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Gambia and Laos have small cabinets (13, 13, 17 and 17 members respectively) but relatively low efficiency scores.
A cabinet and thus its government’s effectiveness, therefore, strongly depends on how it is organised, whether its ministers are credible, honest and competent enough to deliver quality leadership, and whether its bureaucracy possesses the technocratic ability to run the ministries efficiently and produce the public goods.
Nevertheless, the pulls and pressures of coalition politics notwithstanding, if the trend of bifurcation of ministries and splitting of portfolios, and upsizing of cabinets goes on to ridiculous levels, we might then have to consider resorting to imposing a constitutional cap on the size of ministries – something which India has already had to do.
As of today, our federal cabinet membership already totals 16 per cent of our National Assembly membership whereas in India, a constitutional amendment has put a cap on ministers (including the ministers of state) at 15 per cent of the size of the Lok Sabha and the Lower Houses of State Legislatures, with the limit for smaller states being 12 per cent.
