EXORBITANT FEE: Despite being a government institution, the Bilawal Medical College, a campus of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, charges an exorbitant fee from its students. Recently, the college has raised its fee from Rs600,000 to Rs1 million. The regulatory body should take action against this unjust fee structure. Education should not be allowed to become a luxury affordable by only a few.

Muzafar Ahmed
Jamshoro

MISERABLE STUDENTS: The Bolan Medical College (BMC) in Quetta is the only such institution in Balochistan. Regrettably, the students in BMC hostels have been living a life of misery. Owing to shortage of water, life in the hostels is a pathetic mess in which hygiene is the first casualty. The air is pungent and there is a stink all around. Living in such unsafe and unhygienic conditions, how can the professionals lecture their patients about cleanliness? The authorities concerned need to do something about it.

Baryal Sherani
Quetta

BUS HOSTESSES: I often travel by bus to Islamabad and Lahore, and have always felt bad about passengers and drivers misbehaving with hostesses on board. I have seen drivers screaming at the poor souls over minor things. Most bus hostesses, if not all, choose to do what they are doing out of financial compulsions. They deserve to be treated with respect.

It is the duty of the bus-owners to ensure a safe environment for their employees.

Gul Muhammad Khosa
Sohbatpur

PETROL BREAK: The petrol pump run by a public-sector entity on Sariab Road near Balochistan University observes prayer breaks during which they stop all business, with people having to wait 10-20 minutes for their turn as all staff members go on the break together. Even ambulances are made to wait during such breaks.

Staff members can surely offer their prayers in shifts so that no one has to wait.

Muhammad Karim
Quetta

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2023