Flaws in insurance laws

Insurance policyholders are baffled when their claims are rejected by their insurers. For example, a medical insurance claim is rejected on grounds that chronic illnesses are excluded, or a motor claim is rejected on grounds of non-disclosure.

Sometimes this happens because of ambiguities in different clauses of the policy documents. In such cases, the insured being a layman is not conversant with insurance terminologies and suffers.

The situation regarding ambiguities is internationally covered by what is called the Contra Proferentem Rule which provides that where there is an ambiguity in a clause, it will be construed against the drafter (who is the insurer in most cases).

In Pakistan the Contra Proferentem Rule has been incorporated in Section 77 of the Insurance Ordinance - 2000 (XXXIX of 2000) entitled "Construction of ambiguities in favour of policy-holder" and applies to all kinds of insurance contracts, including personal and commercial contracts.

Personal policyholders are mostly individuals with limited means of commercial knowledge and are usually not well versed in legal and commercial drafting, not to speak of the special field of drafting of insurance contracts.

Commercial policyholders are persons such as corporate entities, firms and individuals conducting and supervising large businesses and having the advantage of the services of in-house insurance professionals employed as risk managers or outside insurance consultants.

They can safeguard their rights and are not exposed to unexpected interpretations such as personal policyholders can be. In the light of the above I wish to suggest the following exclusions to the Contra Proferentem Rule as contained in Section 77 of the Insurance Ordinance, 2000, to protect the interest of the insurance industry in Pakistan:

1. Commercial contracts should be excluded from its application as commercial policyholders can deal with ambiguities and other technicalities much better than personal policyholders.

2. The rule should only apply to "standard written insurance contracts" as they are pre-designed without the involvement of policyholders (where policyholders have been involved in drafting the contract the ambiguities should not become a bar on insurers).

3. The rule should only apply to those clauses which have not been individually negotiated with the policyholder.

In continuation of the above-suggested exclusion No. 2, it is further proposed that the condition regarding endorsements should also be expressly made clear in the section as endorsements are often individually negotiated but are issued in standard language. My opinion in this respect is to apply the Contra Proferentem Rule to endorsements as well because they become part of the insurance contract.

ADEEL AHMED QURESHI

Lahore

Unjust distribution of resources

Nationalists in this country are criticizing Punjab for many of their woes. They say revenue collected from Sindh's seaport, the Seraiki belt's cotton, Balochistan's gas and the NWFP's hydro-electricity is being spent on areas other than theirs. Federalists say its Lahore versus Larkana.

Whatever be the political slogans, it is clear that the resources of the smaller provinces are being taken away and spent outside their areas. Jobs are given to other than the residents of these areas.

Sindh is poor because of extrinsic factors. Intrinsically, it is a performing region despite an ending cycle of violence. The only port city of the country is situated in Sindh. It is this province that contributes 70 per cent of revenue to the federal pool.

Had disbursement been made judiciously, this region would have been the most developed area and there would have been no need for subventions. So it does not appear logical that a revenue-generating region should be made to spend on a non-performing region, particularly when their own people are marginalized.

Billions of dollars are earned through textile exports after adding value to cotton produced in the Seraiki belt. But the most deprived people of this country are the Seraikis.

Natural gas to the tune of billions of rupees is being extracted daily from Balochistan but almost all people given jobs from exploration to tapping, from distribution to commercialization, are non-Baloch.

The gas is supplied to Punjab and Sindh cities for domestic and industrial use. Billions of rupees are earned daily from it which directly go to Islamabad and then are mainly spent on the development of one province.

The story does not end here. Thousands of industries in Karachi and other big cities are being run on gas from Balochistan. Several thousand workers associated with these industries are from other provinces. And thus the Baloch are poor.

MANZOOR CHANDIO

Karachi

ISI: bypassing the FPSC

The National Assembly has passed an amendment (Dawn, Sept 25) called "the Federal Public Service Commission (Amendment) Act, 2004", empowering the directorate of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to directly fill various posts without going through the FPSC.

The reasons given for empowering the ISI to appoint various gazetted posts seem to carry little weight in view of the role of the ISI in the country's politics. This legislation is bound to create suspicions and lack of transparency in the appointment procedure.

The amendment says: "It is, therefore, in the larger interest of the country to make the recruitment of the posts of Dte. Gen. ISI by the department itself instead of FPSC." One feels compelled to ask if the FPSC has not been working in the larger interest of the country.

We know that every department has its job requirements and criteria. Why then has only the ISI been given this privilege? The amendment on the one hand seems like an attempt to undermine the authority of the FPSC and, on the other, it shows that the ISI is not ready to accept even minimal civilian control.

The ISI's role in domestic affairs has been questioned by all mainstream political parties. We understand that the head of the ISI is never a civilian bureaucrat; he always comes from the armed forces, and of course policies and areas of operations are determined somewhere else.

So what is the rational behind extending autonomy to the ISI in civilian appointments at a time when civil society expects such secret agencies to be accountable and transparent in their operations and activities?

MUSHTAQUE RAJPAR

Karachi

Medical education mess

A second look at the conflict between the Post-Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), Lahore, as reported in Dawn on September 17, has revealed the administrative and financial mess medical education is in.

The building at the centre of the conflict belonged to the Food Analysis Laboratories even before the birth of Pakistan. It was partially taken over by the PGMI in 1970, later by the Allama Iqbal Medical College and in 2003 by SIMS, banishing the food laboratories. Such are the vagaries of the health department of Punjab.

A second look at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) is also needed to learn how a federal institution specifically built for the advancement of nursing and medical laboratory technology, the most vital fields in the advancement of medicine, was taken over by a provincial institution.

This was done against international contractual obligations, throwing out hundreds of students of nursing and medical laboratory technology. Advanced scientific laboratories were converted into examination halls, causing huge losses by throwing out advanced laboratory and research equipment.

It foreclosed any advancement in medical laboratory technology, basic medical sciences and research as well as the upgrading of nursing profession and practice.

All professed claims of UHS can be better realized by an inter-university board without any cost and without upheaval in medical education and the health department.

The UHS is the only university in the world without a hospital and a teaching programme, which claims to promote health research by making the examination system reliable, transparent and uniform as reported in your columns on September 18.

CONCERNED CITIZEN

Lahore

Jamaat's stand over 'war on terror'

This refers to the letter "Jamaat's stand over 'war on terror' (Sept 26) by the Jamaat-i-Islami information secretary. He says those who wrote earlier on the subject (Sept 13) are "seem overly obsessed with CNN and Fox News propaganda."

There is always an element of propaganda whenever something comes up on the electronic or print media. Mr Azim needs to see the documentaries broadcast a number of times all over the world by many channels in different languages, telling the world the way women were treated during the Taliban era.

He then says that "the Jamaat has always condemned political victimization because the party has itself been made a victim by successive governments". I think the JI needs to look at the ground realities.

Declaring a religious minority as non-Muslims in the Constitution of Pakistan is disgraceful. No constitution should ever define who is a true Muslim and whose interpretation is correct.

Thanks to the Islamic parties, the religious minorities are still considered unfaithful to Pakistan and unfit to assume decision-making and so-called sensitive positions. Islamic parties have made Pakistan into a polarized country which is divided on sectarian and religious lines.

ASHAR J. KHOKHAR

Leeds, UK

Missing prisoners of war

Maj Sharanjitpal Singh Waraich's name tops the list of 54 prisoners of war from the 1971 war still missing. Born in 1938 he was the oldest of four surviving brothers born to Gurdeep Singh and Harbans Kaur who belonged to an erstwhile family of landlords form Gujranwala. He and Maj Kanwaljit Singh Sandhu were good friends. They were the daredevils of Regiment 15, Punjab, also known as the Patiala Regiment.

Sharanjit's grandfather's grandfather had joined the Indian army as subedar and was part of the raising of a battalion called the 24 Punjab. His son and grandson later served in the same battalion. Their family had converted in the 1700s to Sikhism.

It was the same battalion that went to Pakistan when the Indian army was divided along with the country in 1947 and, ironically, it was also the same battalion that raided Husainiwala on Dec 3, 1971, and caught the 15 Punjab on the Indian side unawares, capturing the two officers.

Every time Indo-Pakistan talks are held, we scan newspapers to learn if any headway has been made with respect to 40 to 50 missing personnel. Every time before the talks, we present memorandums and petitions to the Indian government asking them to press upon Pakistan to release the long-languishing prisoners.

It would have been better if one knew they had died. One would have mourned them and sought solace in yearly remembrance prayers, but what can one do when the thought is always at the back of your mind that they may still be alive, may still be in prison in Pakistan for 32 years and 10 months.

Perhaps due to oversight of former regimes in Pakistan, a few Indian army personnel may still be languishing in some Pakistani jail under some other names. In 1996 Mr Riaz Khokhar, now foreign secretary, said as much - that perhaps they might have gone under assumed names because they had not been able to trace them otherwise.

I appeal to General Musharraf to try and locate these men again. Let them return to their families. It is a moot point as to how many survivors there will be now but we need to know what happened to them.

I went to the Wagah- Attari border this year on August 15 and was a part of the candlelight vigil for peace between India and Pakistan. The governments can continue their disputes.

Why should the people suffer? I read about the Pakistani family released recently after years in an Indian prison. The human rights commissions of both countries should be allowed to meet these prisoners every year and take up their cases.

The governments should compensate prisoners they release. A South Asian tribunal should be set up for this purpose. We, the families of the forgotten 54, cannot rest in peace till we know what happened to these men.

DR SIMMI WARAICH

105, New Officers Colony, Patiala, Punjab, India, Ph: 9814213797, 98155464486

Bush and human dignity

President George W. Bush, addressing the United Nations General Assembly, spoke repeatedly of spreading democracy, freedom and dignity in the world. The word 'dignity' was repeated several times.

While the devastation of Afghanistan and Iraq makes it doubtful if democracy and freedom have come to these unfortunate countries, the mention of dignity is highly questionable.

The treatment meted out to the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib prison, involving torture, disrobing of inmates, setting dogs upon naked prisoners and forcing immoral acts and rape on male and female prisoners would negate the claims of dignity made so vehemently by President Bush.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recently termed the Iraq invasion illegal while Mr Bush validates it in his own self-styled manner as part of the "serious consequences" mentioned in the Security Council Resolution. Now whose word is to be believed is the moot question.

The principle of might is right appears to have been applied here as the president of the United States has bestowed upon himself the role of the ultimate arbiter of good and evil in contradiction to the role of the UN.

No wonder the word 'dignity' does not find any mention in the Bill of Rights of the US constitution which tends to safeguard the life, liberty and property of its citizens.

So how can it be supposed to treat with dignity prisoners of war or even ordinary citizens of another country, especially an Islamic one for whom dignity of man is inviolable?

DR M. YAQOOB BHATTI

Lahore

Streamlining traffic

I want to suggest the following to solve traffic problems in Karachi:

1. Ban donkey-carts and push carts in the city.

2. Remove shops which have been set up on encroached lands in old city areas.

3. Remove encroachments from footpaths.

4. Immediately ban rickshaws and minibuses and introduce alternative means of transport.

SYED ADNAN IQBAL

Karachi

Hospital in bad shape

Two weeks back I visited the casualty department of the Civil Hospital, Karachi, for emergency treatment and was shocked at unhygienic condition of the dressing room.

I request the hospital authorities and the provincial health ministry to ensure cleanliness in all sections of the hospital.

SALEEM AHMED NOORUDDIN

Karachi

Fleecing of allottees

THIS is with reference to the letters (Sept 9 and 18) regarding the fleecing of allottees by cooperative societies. Most of these societies (about 130) were given land in the years 1970 and onwards. Many of them cheat allottees on one pretext or the other.

The governor of Sindh has perhaps taken note of the irregularities of cooperative societies, particularly in KDA Scheme No. 33. Being a victim myself I suggest to the governor that a complaint cell should be set up where allottees of these societies can register and seek redress.

H.H. NAJMI

Karachi

Foreign TV channels

The unrestricted transmission of proscribed foreign television channels, especially Indian ones, by cable operators across the country calls into question the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority's (Pemra) claim of ensuring provision of "good and quality" entertainment to viewers.

Cable operators have also been found screening off-colour, vulgar and offensive movies, with no fear of being caught by Pemra, the sole electronic media watchdog in the country.

The Naval Complex Colony in Islamabad is no exception to this trend as banned Indian channels such as Star Plus, Star News, Zee Cinema, Zee Gold, Sonny and B4U are being put on air by the cable operator there. Some of the programmes can be very embarrassing to watch with family. Will Pemra look into this?

USMAN NAEEM

Islamabad

Request to Sindh CM

I and 76 other successful candidates of the PCS Combined Competitive Examinations 2003-2004 conducted by the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) have been anxiously waiting for offer letters since the announcement of our final results three months ago.

We have been not issued the letters because our summary is yet to be signed by the Sindh chief minister. We request the chief minister to sign the summary at the earliest, thus ending our mental agony.

WORRIED CANDIDATE

Karachi

KESC tariff system

Whether it is summer or winter, it has become a routine with the Karachi Electric Supply Company to shut down power supply at two or three times a day or at night, adding to the miseries of citizens.

The utility has not been able to overcome line faults, nor has it done proper planning to generate more electricity to meet the requirements of the fast-increasing population of the city.

But it has increased its tariff manifold in the past five years, issues inflated and supplementary bills, and is replacing old meters with new ones which reportedly run much faster.

Instead of giving incentives to consumers for using more electricity, the KESC has devised a policy to increase the tariff rate for those who consume more power. A recent downward revision in its tariff is negligible and has not changed its policy to charge big consumers more.

One hopes that the prime minister will look into the matter and ensure that the KESC rectifies the situation as soon as possible.

SYED A. MATEEN

Karachi