| June 3, 2006 | Saturday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1427 |
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Storming the PMDC office
Loadsheddings galore
HEC & university reforms
‘Good faith’ and ‘bad luck’
Facts about Israel
Value of currency
Closed for lunch
EC report
PTCL clarification
THE basic factor which can be used as a yardstick to gauge the economic development of a country is the trade balance or difference between imports and exports. The trade deficit of a country either reflects its lack of priorities, or the incompetence of those in charge of economic planning.
After 58 years of independence and seven years of so-called political stability, we now have a trade deficit which is worth almost 75 per of our total foreign exchange reserves. Foreign investment is confined to purchase of established running public sector companies like PTCL, Steel Mills and Habib Bank, thereby generating neither additional employment opportunities, nor contributing to expansion of infrastructure. Investments made in real estate purchase, either by expatriate Pakistanis or foreigners, do not generate either growth in employment or economic activity.
In fact, it is a drain on our foreign exchange reserves, because the phenomenal gains are being repatriated back to foreign bank accounts. Had it not been for the increase in foreign remittances by skilled labour or lower middle class sections of our society, we would have depleted these forex reserves, due to mounting debts and payment of installments. The 9/11 episode has also contributed to a rise in remittances.
The import of consumer items like cars, SUVs, mobile phones, expensive new commercial aircrafts like private jets, televisions and air conditioners, only contributes to the economies of the nations from which we import them.
Instead of buying items of luxury, we should use our scarce resources to expand infrastructure for public transport, railways, technical education, health, provision of clean drinking water, judiciary and maintenance of law and order.
We can boast of additional palatial houses and offices for chief ministers, corps commanders and ministers but are we embarrassed by the dilapidated structures that house hospitals, schools, session and district courts, roads and water storage facilities, that cater to 85 per cent of the population living in rural areas. The administrative expenditure of an incompetent, corrupt establishment is today a drain on this country. These islands of prosperity (like the DHA and GORs) in a sea of abject poverty, are a threat to national security. Our elite do not pay taxes, but consider it a right to get state subsidised land allotted to them. In the civilised democratic countries, the state provides subsidised housing only to those who cannot afford it. In Pakistan it is the other way around.
We live in a world where the superpowers want to rule us through economic subjugation. Instead of sending a colonial army, they train a few natives to promote their agendas, who are sent here on deputation to serve as economic planners. Nations that submit to such pressures will always be devoid of an industrial base to sustain their economy.
They end up with huge deficits, galloping inflation and political instability, which are ideal for economic blackmail. Pakistan has been a hostage to this neo- colonialism since 1956. Today even our prime ministers are on deputation, only to return to their parent organisation or country of residence, after their term of office expires.
ABRAR KHOSA
Faisalabad
APROPOS of Prof Abdul Ghani Siddiqui’s letter ‘Storming the PMDC office’, I would like to share my views regarding the state of education at private medical universities. These universities have come up at a time when government-run medical colleges have collapsed.
A recent article by Shershah Syed (Dawn Magazine, May 21) highlights the extent to which government-run medical colleges have declined. In Dr Shershah Syed’s words, “the present and previous final year MBBS class at the SMC received very few lectures from the professor or assistant professors”. This contradicts Prof Siddiqui’s statement that private medical colleges employ part-time medical teachers rather than a full- time faculty.
Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee’s column ‘Call out the fire brigade” (Jan 8) already exposed the working of government-run medical colleges. There are no rules to which students adhere, examination papers are leaked, graduates get house job certificates while sitting at home, while palm greasing and the other under-the-cover activities are done in the open.
Dr Shershah Syed’s article depicted the discrimination that students of the SMC are facing as compared to their counterparts in the DMC. If authorities from private universities have made a community for themselves, why is there so much of a fuss? After all, they rightly demanded a representation for themselves in the PMDC which, over the years, has been occupied by faculty members representing government colleges only.
Dr Asim Hussain, who represents private universities, has done quite a bit to bring the private sector on the panel of the PMDC. Regarding Prof Siddiqui’s claim of private universities charging heavy fees, this matter should be brought to the knowledge of the president of Pakistan.
In Karachi alone, two government colleges, DOW and SMC, accommodate about 450 students every year. What about the rest of the students who can’t get admission. Shall they vaporise their dream of becoming a doctor. In these circumstances, they move to private universities which, of course, have high fees but that too is accepted for the promise of better educational facilities and at least a full-time faculty, which the government colleges don’t have.
The solution lies in creating more seats for candidates residing in Karachi, either by decreasing the seats of candidates applying from outside Karachi or increasing the seats within the college.
Lastly, regarding the acceptance of degrees from such private universities, it is now clear that a number of graduates from these institutes have done remarkably well in national, as well as in international, examinations and are excelling in their field.
We can only hope that the PMDC will stand up to its task and work together with the private sector overall to benefit the fragile health system of our country.
DR SYED HASNAIN MUJTABA
Karachi
THE present frequency of loadshedding or power breakdowns in Karachi is unprecedented in the history of this city. It pricks like a thorn in everybody’s flesh. If such are the fruits of privatisation, people feel they were much better off before the KESC was privatised.
Privatisation of the KESC was justified by the champions of ‘privatisation spree’ that it would improve the working of the KESC but it has proved more of a bane than boon for the common man.
The prolonged/repeated loadsheddings have not only put the life of every individual in misery, but Karachi is suffering a loss of millions in various forms due to increase in its frequency. There are public protests and the people have come on the roads in some parts of the city. They have lost patience and find the KESC’s tantrums hard to endure.
Karachi is an metropolitan city and was once known as the city of lights. This image has been lost due to official apathy. People want a stop to load shedding and power failures and they want the KESC to manage its affairs better.
The advocates of privatisation can see the results of their adventurism where relief is not in sight for months and months.
How will the common man endure the continued loadshedding?
The privatisation of the KESC is a lesson worth learning from before the government embarks on further ventures of privatisation in the country.
M. SHAFIQUE AHMED
Karachi
THIS refers to your editorial ‘HEC & university reforms’ (May 7). Your comments regarding the emphasis by the Higher Education Commission on PhD degree as prerequisite for appointment to the post of professor and associate professor are balanced and pragmatic. The main criterion for such appointments should be academic excellence and research work of real merit on the part of the candidate instead of placing undue emphasis on label.
There should be no harm in selecting a person for these posts if he has to his credit considerable research work in his discipline and has published article in journals of international repute. Such academics are far better than those carrying a label of PhD.
It would not out of place to mention here that the well-known professors of Aligarh Muslim University before partition, namely Professor A.B.A. Haleem and Professor M. Habib, were not PhD though they were well-known all over India for their profound scholarship and learning. They produced several PhDs.
The former was later appointed the first vice-chancellor of Sindh University, as well as of Karachi University. Even in Pakistan until recently, Professor Sirajuddin and Professor Hamid Ahmad Khan, considered to be an authority on English literature, were without doctorate in English.
This policy of the HEC is likely to encourage the individuals concerned to acquire shoddy doctorates from wherever possible. You are perfectly right in saying “what is needed is knowledge and academic excellence in person applying for high-level posts. The HEC is going too much by letter of the rules”.
Directives by government agencies to autonomous universities having their elected statutory bodies to manage their affairs is unheard of in a democratic society. They strike at the very roots of their autonomy. The existing quasi-military regime has found an effective instrument in the shape of the Higher Education Commission to strengthen its control over the public sector universities and to stifle as much as possible whatsoever little autonomy is enjoyed by them.
R.R. ALVI
Lahore
ACCORDING to a news item, the Public Accounts Committee’s subcommittee on railways, which included two MNAs from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, has forgiven three army generals for buying substandard locomotives worth $100 million in 2001, stating that the deal was done in ‘good faith.’
The ‘good faith’ would have turned into ‘bad luck’ had this deal been inked by civilians and investigated by the army.
I call this taming of parliamentarians by the military’s ‘enlightened moderation’.
DR GHAYUR AYUB
Londonsps
SPEAKING at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad recently, Poland’s vice foreign minister made several statements that reflect his partisanship (May 12).
One example of this was his attempt to absolve the West and even Israel of the woes of Palestine. He stated: “I’m not sure if the West is responsible for what is going on in Palestine.” It should be obvious to everyone that the events in that unfortunate land are the direct result exclusively of the setting up of the Jewish state, which was certainly not the work of any Arab country.
The minister must have heard of how the notorious Irgun and Stern gangs of the Zionists had initiated terrorism in the region by shooting Palestinians and driving them out of villages such as Deir Yasin. They had even killed some Britishers but the supporters of Israel have conveniently forgotten all that.
The diplomat must surely be aware of the scandalous Balfour Declaration of 1917 which promised the Jews a ‘national home’ in Palestine and was a cruel political manoeuvre designed to foster the old principle, common to all colonial powers, of ‘divide and rule’. In the case of Palestine, this principle was the more flagrant as in 1916 the British had promised the then ruler of Mecca, Sharif Husayn, as a price for his help against the Turks, an independent Arab state which was to comprise all countries between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.
They not only broke their promise a year later by concluding with France the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement (which established French dominion over Syria and Lebanon, but also by implication, excluded Palestine from the obligations they had assumed with regard to the Arabs.
The gentleman also sent a wave of laughter through the audience by trying to suppress the truth in saying he did not know if Israel possessed nuclear weapons. Is he ignorant of the revelations of the Israeli technician Mordechai Vanunu who was jailed for 18 years and is still under severe restrictions (to prevent leakage of more secrets) for blowing the whistle about their nuclear capabilities? Why doesn’t that country allow the inspection installations?
A report titled ‘Israel and the bomb’ in the Guardian was quite explicit: ”The Israeli armed forces now possess missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload up to 1,500 kilometres away, and are developing others with much longer range. They have acquired more than 200 nuclear-capable aircraft, and have completed the land-air-and-sea triad by buying three nuclear-capable submarines.
“They probably have more nuclear warheads than Britain, including thermonuclear warheads. Israel is a fully-fledged member of the nuclear club and possessor of weapons of mass destruction with just one difference — that it will not admit to the fact. Nor will its US ally ....
“Other western governments also steer clear of the subject. Israel still maintains its ‘nuclear ambiguity’. Yet it is a rare opportunity, in the publicity surrounding Mr Vanunu’s release to take stock of this perverse silence (Dawn, April 30, 2004).”
He further stated that Iran had no need to enrich uranium for fuel as it can buy the same from market. A sovereign nation has the right to decide for itself. The Iranians do possess uranium ore and, given the undependable policies of the West, which have also created impediments for every Muslim country in acquiring nuclear technology, it would only be natural for them to want to rely on themselves.
Finally, the Polish minister claimed that Israel was a democratic country and would not commit any irresponsible action. How about its attack on the Iraqi reactor at Osirak and the killings of hundreds of innocent Palestinian children and many western peace activists? What of the thousands of Palestinians rendered homeless and robbed of livelihood by the bulldozing of their homes to create Jewish settlements, against which the activists were protesting?
The South African intelligence minister, Ronnie Kasrils, has declared Israeli apartheid to be worse than that of S. Africa and has slammed it for occupying Palestinian land and ignoring the ICJ ruling against the building of walls and barriers (May 20), to which may be added its disregard for the UNSC resolutions, all due to US support.
KHALID CHAUDHRY
Karachi
I AGREE with Mr Rafique Ahmed Siddique (letter, May 30) that printing of higher denomination notes is a corollary of inflation.
Though it helps people to carry fewer notes, the facilitation is restricted only to the elite class whereas the poor, whose income ranges bet-ween Rs1, 000 and Rs5,000 a month, will face enormous problems.
The State Bank governor is correct that it would assist businesses but what about the government’s policy of documenting economy? It will, on the contrary, create a cash culture generating more black money in the market as people will find it easy to keep their cash out of bank as has been rightly pointed out by Mr Siddique.
According to economists, both supply of money by printing more notes and issuing notes of higher denomination have the same effect, i.e., more inflation.
Therefore, after the issuance of 5,000-rupee notes the value of 1,000-rupee notes will automatically go down because when high-value notes are printed, the supply of lower-value notes will become less.
As a result, after some time 5,000-rupee notes will take over 1,000-rupee notes and down-the-line notes of 500, 100, 50, 20 and 10 will suffer the same fate of devaluation. Yes, high-value help reduce cost of paper and printing but it hardly matters when seen in national perspective.
The elimination of the one-rupee and two-rupee note, as well as the conversion of five-rupee to a coin, was due to the fact that these currencies had lost their vitality.
ALTAMASH M. KURESHI
Karachi
A FEW days ago I went to our area post office (Nayabad post office-75660) which is located in Memon Society, Karachi, to post my letters.
I arrived there at 11 o’clock in the morning, but the officer in charge closed the main door of the post office saying that it was lunch time.
When I questioned the post office’s lunch hours, he quietly closed his door and started to take lunch with some of his ‘special guests’.
Can someone at Pakistan Post tell me what sort of government institution starts lunch time at 11 in the morning, and continues to be at lunch for four hours?
A CUSTOMER
Karachi
ACCORDING to the Election Commission of Pakistan report, 100 MNAs do not own a house and 80 MNAs do not own a car. Yet 100 per cent of them live in lavish houses and drive around in expensive luxury cars. For example, Maulana Fazlur Rahman declares that he does not own a car, yet he moves about in a Land Cruiser.
Ministers of interior, health, law, religious affairs, commerce, and science and information technology all say they are without houses or cars. So too do the state ministers of economic affairs, parliamentary affairs and foreign affairs. Similarly, two former prime ministers, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Zafarullah Jamali, do not own a car of their own. I wonder how they travel around? It seems they have very good relationships with people whose luxury cars they borrow.
How can anyone say that we have rich leaders, as we can see from these statistics that we have low, rather no, income people in the assembly who are even unable to own a house or a car.
MUHAMMAD YOUSAF MALIK
Lahore
THIS refers to a letter published in your newspaper under the heading ‘Dead phone’ (May 29) regarding the faulty telephone number 6949942.
PTCL would like to clarify that the last complaint was registered on May 19 and the problem was resolved on the same day. After publication of the letter, the PTCL officer concerned visited the customer’s premises again and refixed the cable.
SALEEM KHAN
PRO STR-III, Karachi
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