POOR POSTAL SYSTEM: We inherited an excellent postal service in 1947. Officials having had training under the British expanded the postal system to include villages, towns and cities across the country. It is unfortunate that the postal system is in the doldrums, while private courier services are flourishing. The post office and their red-coloured letter boxes were once easily accessible wherever one went. But that is no more the case. Among the many affected areas are Lal Kurti and Jhelum Road areas. Purchasing postal stamps and envelopes, and posting letters are serious problems for the locals, but expensive private courier services are easily accessible. Affordable mail services are shrinking, while expensive courier services are expanding. Will the authorities concerned look into the matter?

M. Akram Niazi
Rawalpindi

SUKKUR NEEDS LIBRARIES: There is only one library in Sukkur. People from neighbouring areas also rely on this library and that leads to overcrowding. The government can utilise the space in Mir Masoom Shah Municipal Library to build an additional hall or a two-storey structure to accommodate those coming to the library. The district administration should establish additional libraries as well.

Mansoor Ali Soomro
Sukkur

BARTER SYSTEM: Barter trade is essentially meaning trading of goods with goods without the involvement of any financial transaction. Though it has gone out of vogue worldwide, there is enough on the ground to suggest that this may actually suit many a country if a modern form of the barter mechanism could be worked out. The idea should not be to fit it within the traditional frameworks of financial transactions and specialised markets. The approach has to be out of the box. Pakistan, Iran, Russia and Afghanistan, for example, can exchange their products and services on a barter system to get rid of dollar domination. If implemented, the barter system can be a remarkable step by the government to meet its foreign exchange commitments.

Ahsan Ul Haq Shaikh
Chunian

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023