| April 23, 2008 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 16, 1429 |
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Hacking of credit cards
Inefficient courier service
Future of PRSP
Right to information
Erratic management
Improving education sector
Flogging of women in Iran
Chili export
Obama
Graduate or not
An appeal
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
THE change in crop patterns in the western world to overcome the environment and the oil price dilemma has made the world food crop scarce.
The affected are rice and wheat that are staple foods for the best part of the world.
Pakistan is experiencing shortage of wheat, and maybe rice, though surplus would be out of the reach of the common man because of the charm of the value it is fetching in the international markets.
However, western psyche is the root cause. In the eastern hemisphere it is all because no serious research and development has been conducted in the agriculture field, and no variety of higher production per acre has come forth during the last two decades, in all the major crops, may that be rice, wheat, corn, barley, cotton or sugarcane.
Across the border in India, the situation has a very rosy and emulating scenario. All the major crops have a higher per-acre yield, compared to Pakistan, and the citrus and mango orchards are an envy to look at, compared to our side of the border.
In India, the trees are laden with fruits, whereas on the Pakistan side of the border, the trees are infected with one or the other disease, coupled with mismanagement and high cost of pesticides and medicines required to keep the plants and trees healthy.
Also, they are not produced locally and hence have a very high value, getting out of the reach of the common farmers.
Lack of education and knowledge of modern farm management and crop alternatives, to keep the soil healthy and fertile, have actually deteriorated the soil strength failing to give a better yield.
There is another very disturbing factor at work in Pakistan, either the landowners are too wealthy, and do not care about the way land is being tilled, or are too poor to care for the land.
Water management is also not what an agronomist would desire. There is either wastage of water or shortage of it. Water is an issue of national importance however, but is being taken too lightly, which would cause a major debacle in the near future.
There is necessity of dams which should be constructed so that water storage and power generation facilities are ensured and the nation avoids a future Dark Age scenario.
At present Pakistan is surplus in rice and sugar. Rice is fetching a better price and farmers are switching to rice and wheat, as they are expecting a higher return on these products.
The sugar mills have battered sugarcane farmers this season and there was almost no sowing in February. Next year the crop is expected to reduce by about 20 per cent compared to the just concluded season.
There is a surplus of sugar and an unhindered export has been allowed which may cause a shortage in the ensuing season, as due to the shortage of the crop, next year and a surplus this year, we will balance the requirement.
However, it is again expected that the sowing of sugarcane in November would be negligible due to a higher price of other staple food crops such as rice and wheat which tempt the growers to abandon the sugarcane crop.
Since sugar is surplus, we should store it for consumption in the ensuing periods, instead of exporting it as export will fetch a lower price than the import of the product in times to come, which most probably will be middle of the year 2009.
There are huge funds involved in the storage and preservation of the food products. We will have to endure such expenses and forge such resources as will help us to cope with the rising imbalance in the food autarky, very much required to feed the growing souls of our nation
DAWOODI MORKAS
Karachi
CREDIT card hacking is on the increase in our country and preventive action should be taken the sooner the better by the management of the credit cards and the government. I have learnt it the hard way.
My husband is a founder member of the UBL credit card and I am a supplementary card holder, I used it the last time around noon on Jan 30 to buy groceries from a shop in Bahadurabad, Karachi. The next day I got a call from the UBL credit card office asking me if I had used it to make payment to Saffron Filling station in Faisalabad.
I showed my extreme surprise because I had not been to the city for years and the card was not even lost. It was very much with me.
I was told that the card was used three times at the petrol pump on Jan 31 and Feb 1. The first time the bill came to Rs15,136 (one wonders how can fuel of such a big amount can be filled in a vehicle) and the second usage was to the tune of Rs3,500.
On Feb 1, the card was hacked again for filling up fuel worth Rs3,000. I was absolutely shocked. The gentleman who spoke to me from the UBL card office assured me that I would not be billed.
One Mr Naveed who had phoned me asked me to bring the card to the UBL credit card office, and when I went there all he did was to cut the card with a pair of scissors, something I could have done it at home too. He also assured me that I wouldn’t be charged the hacked amount. I was given the complaint number – 1502080423.
But my nightmare came true when I was sent a bill which included the total hacked amount of Rs21,636. Despite several phone calls and three faxes that my husband sent on my behalf there has been no change. I am willing to pay the money for things that I bought that month but certainly not the amount ‘spent’ by the hackers.
The apathy of the management of the credit cards is simply shocking. I am writing this letter out of sheer desperation for I have lost all hopes that justice would be done.
MRS FARAH GAZDAR
Karachi
WITHIN a fortnight a regular customer of TCS courier service has encountered two bitter experiences that belie the company’s claim that it offers best and efficient services. In these two episodes it proved to be otherwise.
First, a letter was sent on April 5 to Lakhra (airway bill no. 2309191174) that reached its destination after five days. Investigations by the customer revealed that the consignment was inadvertently sent to Larkana (instead of Lakhra, Jamshoro), whereas tracking on website showed that it had reached Lahore.
After frantic phone calls to a number of offices of the courier company, it was finally delivered on April 9.
Second, documents were sent to Mangla on April 12 (airway bill no 2309220238) that were to be delivered to the consignee on April 14 (April 13 being Sunday), which did not.
After making personal efforts and repeated requests by the customer, the urgent documents were delivered only in the afternoon of April 15.
The customer was informed that the premises was closed on April 14 afternoon, though the fact is that it remains open 24 hours.
When the company’s dispatcher in Dina, Jhelum, was contacted, he conceded that he was unable to go to Mangla on April 14, and also next day morning, due to rains.
Many other customers may be facing similar difficulties of untimely delivery of their consignments booked through the leading courier company. But not all complaints are surfaced and addressed to.
HUSSAIN SIDDIQUI
Islamabad
THE government of Punjab initiated a pilot project (Punjab Rural Support Programme) with the help of donor agencies in the district of the southern region, Rahim Yar Khan, on a five-year contract/agreement with the district government.
The agreement between the PRSP and the district government included handing over of some hundred and plus Basic Health Units (BHUs) to PRSP with staff and stock.
Now after five years, the PRSP has achieved its goals which the district government had failed to deliver.
The PRSP ensured that the medical officers would remain present along with the paramedic staff at each BHU with an abundant quantity of required medicines, including important investigations such as sugar and haemoglobin level. Before the PRSP’s participation, the above-mentioned facilities were scant and the rural population had no access to such facilities.
Now the rumour is that the new district government unilaterally wants to terminate the contract with the PRSP even after the success of this pilot project, while the government of Punjab had extended this programme in other districts also.
The chief minister and other relevant authorities should look into the matter as hundreds of doctors, including paramedic staff, will suffer.
A CONCERNED DOCTOR
Rahim Yar Khan
THIS is with regard to your editorial, ‘Right to information’ (April 20).
The editorial rightly points out that the “free media and the right to information go hand in hand, and factually accurate reporting and analysis are critically dependent on freedom of information.”
The reason why the repeal in the Pemra ordinance marked the coalition government’s first legislative step is because we fully realise the negative repercussions of unlawful acts that seek to deprive the entire nation of enjoying the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution.
However, we take exception to a statement wrongly attributed to the minister of information and broadcasting, Sherry Rehman, who was quoted in the editorial describing the “restoration of a basic right (freedom of information) as a ‘gift’ from the government.”
In fact, what she said was quite the opposite: “This is a gift of a long struggle jointly launched by the media, democratic forces and the entire nation.”
This was widely quoted in the media and can be verified from various sources.
It is most unfortunate that while highlighting the virtues of free media and the right to information, the editorial itself ignored one basic principle of responsible journalism, i.e. verification of information.
SPOKESMAN
Ministry of information and broadcasting
Islamabad
THIS is with reference to an advertisement (April 12) by the Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco), which is under the overall management of Pepco, announcing a load management schedule over a period of 24 hours under its area of jurisdiction.
By the way Fesco under Pepco is in the public sector. Why can’t the private sector Karachi Electric Supply Company Limited (Kesco) organise and also announce a load management schedule in its area of jurisdiction, rather than resorting to erratic loadshedding?
Kesco, please have mercy on your customers.
NAZIM F. HAJI
Karachi
THE reason for the progress of developed countries is attributed to their sustainable policies in the education sector. They spend much more in the education sector than in any other sector.
In our country the most backward sector is education owing to negligence by almost all previous governments, barring Pervez Musharraf’s government, since independence.
I am not an admirer of the Musharraf regime, but there is no denying the fact that the education sector has improved greatly through the launch of new programmes in his regime.
The initiation of the HEC and the start of NIP are remarkable programmes of his government. In a short period of six years, the HEC has awarded more than 2,000 foreign PhD scholarships to Pakistani students. These students are receiving higher education in more than 15 highly technically developed countries. Moreover, the HEC has been conducting seminars and workshops of highly learned scholars for the teachers and students of Pakistani universities. Through the HEC, all the public universities of Pakistan have access to thousands of international books and journals free of cost.
The second programme of his government was National Internship Programme (NIP) for 16-year-old graduates. This was beneficial for thousands of unemployed graduates of Pakistan for a year, but it is disheartening to all fresh graduates that the new government has terminated this programme.
The education sector is considered the backbone of a country. Hence, this government must take measures to improve and sustain the education sector reforms.
Education can be improved in Pakistan by taking the following measures.
*NIP programme should be resumed to reduce frustration among the fresh graduates.
*Education should be free for all males and females up to the college level in the four provinces of Pakistan, and there should be monthly stipends for female candidates.
*All the government schools should be English-medium, for this purpose the teachers should be given special training in getting command over the English language.
*There should be job security for all those who complete their university degree.
*In rural areas, separate schools and colleges should be established for girls.
*Computers must be provided to all the schools and colleges of Pakistan.
*There must be laws that impose fines over parents if they evade admitting their children to a school.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Dadu
IT was outrageous to read in Dawn (April 22) that women activists will be flogged in Iran for agitating for women’s rights. Their agitation is viewed in Iran as a disturbance to the country’s law and order situation. This is a very symptomatic treatment.
That educated and aware Iranian women are having to take to the streets for their rights shows a gross violation of the same in Iran. It is this violation that is at the centre of disturbance and not the women’s demands emanating from their secondary treatment.
Women are second to none as they have proved themselves in all ages, in general, and in this technological era, in particular. Iran, that seeks nuclear technology and even engages in stem cell research, must also demonstrate development, sophistication, and civilisation in its treatment of its female population as well.
It must not leave women behind as second-class citizens or worse as it aspires to take giant strides in science and technology. The appalling flogging decision must be withdrawn immediately.
DR MAHNAZ FATIMA
Karachi
APROPOS of the report, ‘Chili traders seek modern equipment to boost exports’ (April 1). The grievances raised by merchants are legitimate, which is evident from the dwindling figures of chili export. It is reiterated that in the absence of a drying plant or dehydration system for chili in the market, merchants are forced to adopt the obsolete method of spreading it in an open field for drying.
Consequently, during night, due to moisture a fungus attacks the commodity and infects it, which is not acceptable to foreign buyers. Although we are producing a unique variety of chili called ‘dandi kut’, we are far behind in its exports.
It is pertinent to say that if a commodity is not acceptable to foreign buyers, it is also not fit for domestic consumption. So, we should promote a scientific method for drying chili as this will help our export , as also our health at home.
SIDDIK S. JAANGDA
Karachi
While K. B. Kale of Indonesia is right in suggesting, in his letter, ‘Obama and racism in America’ (April 18), that “Blacks (are) more and more comfortable with whites and vice versa”, I must also mention that, in spite of the fact that the Americans at the grassroots level are evolving into a ‘melting pot’ society, still it is the millions and millions of dollars of big corporations’ money that has gone into oiling oresidential campaign machines.
Therefore, while a black Obama may become the next president of the US, it is the big corporations that will ultimately rule the roost.
JALAUDDIN S. HUSSAIN
Canada
WHILE removing the graduation condition, why doesn’t the government also remove the legality which prevents convicts from running for election? And while the “democratically elected” government is at it, it might as well remove the local district government system.
Instead of viewing the graduation condition as an incentive for leaders to attend school/college and get educated to better lead their people, the current government is customising the Constitution with a vengeance against the military and not with the intention of improving the future of the people of Pakistan.
SHAN SIDDIQUI
USA
SINCE the ‘democratic’ government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has done away with the stipulation of an incumbent prime minister being a graduate, I really think this is a great step in promoting employment for the educated. Now a greater number of the ‘elected’ rulers will require the services of scribes and translators.
At the same time, a great burden has been lifted from the shoulders of a nation that has held upright the torch of wisdom; education is no more a necessity.
Pakistan is fortunate that the ‘king in waiting’ can at least read and write, otherwise that too would have been declared a crime against the ‘spirit of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’.
May God help us all, and free Pakistan from the evil clutches of waderas, nawabs, sardars, mullahs, chaudhrys and pirs. Ameen.
AKBAR SULTAN
Via email
AS a student studying for board examinations, I am losing precious time of study due to the worst kind of electricity loadshedding for hours on end. Life has simply become miserable due to untimely power outages. I wonder how poor souls appearing for CSS examinations would manage across the country.
Every now and then everyone hears Wapda making tall claims about national development and prosperity. Undoubtedly, we students are part of this nation.
During severe power shortage, electricity should be utilised for domestic purposes alone. We have the world’s third largest coal reservoirs to be used for industries.
I request the Wapda authorities to ensure that we are living in the 21st century.
Kindly don’t let the power breakdown be a fake excuse for lazy souls.
Only with Wapda’s commitment, I believe that a devoted student could meet both their own aspirations and high expectations turn to great achievement.
HIRA ALI MALIK
Abbottabad
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