HOURS WITHOUT WATER: Every week, we spend nearly 30 hours without water at our school, and this has been going on for almost a year. There is no drinking water and there is no water in the taps adorning the washroom walls. And it is a functional school that has teachers, students and administration personnel. It is unbelievable, right? And, yet, it is absolutely true. This is what the state of affairs has been at the Government School Chatha Bakhtawar in capital Islamabad. Any idea what should we do?

Usama Safeer
Islamabad

COST OF HAJ: This is with reference to the editorial ‘Costly Haj’ (March 12). Haj is surely a journey that all Muslims dream about undertaking once in their lifetime. Owing to the economic instability, the cost of pilgrimage has gone way beyond the reach of the ordinary people in Pakistan. They have no option but to give up on their dreams and focus on somehow surviving from one day to another. The government of Saudi Arabia may consider reducing the cost of the pilgrimage by reducing its profit margins at various steps of the way. This will surely make the holy journey affordable to many more.

Zainab Aliahmed
Turbat

NO COLLEGE: Washuk is a small district in Balochistan located around 460km southwest of Quetta, with a population of less than 200,000. Even for this small population, the government, especially the district management, has failed to address issues related to education infrastructure. The entire district has only one college which is nothing but an empty building used as an examination hall during various examinations. After intermediate, students are left with no choice but to leave the area to pursue their studies further. Of course, the other option is not to leave the hometown and, instead, leave academic pursuit. Does that sound good?

Manzoor Ismail Baloch
Lahore

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2023