A SENIOR citizen, Kishwar Naheed, was cheated recently at a post office where she had gone to pay her electricity bill.

She recovered from the shock after learning that everybody is experiencing cheating, short-changing and graft which have become our national traits.

But a very few like our ‘cricket heroes’ are punished if caught abroad, otherwise in the homeland there is no check on cheaters.

I would not advise the respectable poet to avoid contact with government functionaries. It is inevitable in many situations. As a matter of fact, the government has grown too much in this part of the world.

However, utility bills can be paid at banks and I have experienced staff at foreign banks operating in Pakistan reasonably courteous.

Every honest person is suffering at the hands of corrupt elements in the government.

For very small cheques, I had to personally visit the office of the Accountant-General, Pakistan Revenues, Islamabad, to hear the remarks that a pensioner should learn to face such delays.

I have not been able to receive the revised last pay slip despite the intervention of a friend who is holding an important position in a very important agency in the government.

The counter for pensioners has not become operational at AGPR. There is an urgent need to humanise the bureaucracy.

Kishwar Naeed, take heart. You are not alone to suffer at the hands of cheaters and corrupt in Pakistan.

ASGHAR MAHMOOD Additional IG Police (Rtd) Islamabad