I am a second-year medical student at a prestigious government college in Karachi. My first academic year commenced in October and the second year started exactly a year after that in the month of October. Now a notice has been displayed on the university website according to which the third year will begin from December 1, two months later than expected. I have written many letters to the vice-chancellor, principal and the head of the quality enhancement cell to urge them to conduct our examinations on time so that our new session can start, but to no avail. It is indeed very sad to see how the standard of our public sector universities has fallen with respect to punctuality. Ironically in the yearly timetable which is also displayed on the university website and published in the prospectus, our exams should have been over by July but thanks to the examination department they are now scheduled to start from October 10. I do not understand why students should have to suffer for the irresponsible attitude of the administration. If our sessions are delayed by months every year like this we will end up graduating months later than we should, wasting our valuable time. Other batches at the college have also suffered the same fate. I wonder why it is that we do not hear of such irregularities in private sector universities. I request the relevant authorities to take prompt action to ensure that our examinations take place on time.
Hafsa M. Hanif
Karachi
KESC’s irrelevant billing system
The KESC has adopted numerous unethical practices for accumulating funds. It makes its customers pay huge bills on a regular basis. They also pay on behalf of those who are charged by the KESC through its very well-managed kunda system. I recently experienced this when I received a hefty bill worth Rs13,500 just an evening before its due date. When I approached the department concerned to review the bill and to extend the due date, the customer window staff at the Power House branch denied the possibility of any mistake and rudely refused to register my complaint. When I insisted that a complaint be lodged to their high-ups (as the bill was delivered late by the KESC) the subordinate staff reluctantly let me talk to their manager. The manager, who seemed to be in haste, replied even without listening to me, “Well, you have to swallow this bitter pill. It is your headache to arrange funds and pay by today at any cost. Otherwise, be prepared to pay the late payment surcharge.” He also said that even the Managing Director of the KESC had no powers to extend the date. I ask the MD KESC whether he has any powers to ask the billing department about the timely delivery of bills (with a 5 to 7 day margin). Or is he helpless in front of his unprofessional team, which is not even trained to talk in a civilised manner?
Aley Raza
Karachi
Honouring leaders
I have just come back from a ten day tour of Turkey visiting six cities. Travelling by road from Istanbul and covering nearly 1,500 kilometres one got to see the towns and villages of this very beautiful country and wonderful people. What struck me most, besides the well developed infrastructure, cleanliness, law and order, no blaring horns and beautiful houses, was that one saw photographs only of Kamal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Their roads and buildings did not carry photographs of any of the past or present leaders. It was Ataturk and only Ataturk.
Ayesha Mahmud
Karachi
SBP’s role vis-a-vis other banks
I draw my pension from the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Dadu, every month, which owing to the indifferent attitude of the staff has become a torture not only for me, but also for all the pensioners of the area who have to stand in queues for hours under the scorching sun and also have to listen to the reproofs of the staff. Time and again I had tried to draw the attention of the senior officials of NBP towards the maltreatment being meted out at the bank to the public but my efforts went in vain. I also went on to bring forth the danger the crumbling bank building was posing to visiting account holders. But every word I sent forth could not yield results, as if it were written on water. Fortunately, on May 14, a team of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Hyderabad, under its manager, paid a surprise visit to the NBP Dadu that thoroughly made an inspection of the precarious building and the working of its staff. Later, it also held an open meeting at the town hall. The aggrieved account holders presented their complaints about the working of the NBP and also as to the condition of the building. The manager listened to each and every grievance attentively. He assured that the team would highlight all issues in its report, and would recommend immediate relocation of the branch to some safe place. We were highly impressed with the way our complaints were taken into consideration by the team, and in a couple of weeks, the NBP Dadu was shifted to a safe location. Besides, some improvement in dealings of the bank staff with the account holders was also visible, after the inspection. Later, an unfortunate collapse of the old building proved that our fears and findings of the SBP’s team were timely. The caving in of the building on July 2 left one person dead and another critically injured. It is strange that in spite of the shifting of the branch, the strong room, with depositors’ money, was forsaken after the collapse and remained under the debris. At times, I shudder at the thought that if the SBP Hyderabad team had not made their timely move, the loss of human life would have been huge and I might have been one of the victims, as the day when the ceiling of the NBP Dadu came down was the second day of the disbursement of pension and salaries to government employees, who converge on it in multitudes. I sincerely acknowledge the role of the SBP in safeguarding our interests as well as our lives. I expect that it would keep a regular watch over the NBP Dadu and other banks like it spread throughout the region.
Abdul Samad
Dadu
Selling off white elephants
A number of trains have been closed on the pretext that they were running into losses and now the Railways would use these locomotive engines to run goods trains. If the solution to losses is closing down such ventures, then we should soon expect the PIA, the National Shipping Corporation (which presumably owns only one ship, the rest have been sold), PTV, Steel Mills, Pakistan Post, etc. should also be sold because all these are incurring losses. At one time I was working for the third biggest heavy industry project. In its initial stage, it was running into losses but had good commercial prospects for the future as is usual with such industry. During the Bhutto era, the labourers became aware of their ‘rights’ but they failed to understand their obligations. The result was that there was a deterioration in performance which eventually resulted in a slow down of productivity. Our losses have continued to increase with each passing day and any hope of the project picking up has become bleak. In the second half of the 70s, a private audit company after auditing accounts recommended that the project be closed and all except for essential staff like security guards, some cleaners, a couple of electricians, etc. be kept on duty while the rest should only come on the first of every month to collect their salaries. The auditors had forecast that the company would be able to save on electricity, transport, maintenance, stationery wastage, etc. This would bring down the amount of losses to only Rs10 million which at that time was Rs25 million a month, thus saving Rs15 million. National organisations like the Railways and PIA incur losses due to unwise policies. On July 22, an intellectual stated in his column that whatever concrete infrastructure is available in Pakistan and India was built by the English rulers. There is no denying the fact that no real industrial or other well planned development has been witnessed after Ayub Khan’s tenure. During the second PPP rule, the colour of the express trains was changed. On the inauguration of the first train with a new colour scheme, when asked about the reason for the change in colour, the then Railways Minister said that the changed colour will motivate passengers who sneak into trains without paying for the tickets, to buy tickets. The result of this move is not known. However, what is on official record is that the paint factory in Nowshera which was owned by the brother of the Railways Minister got enough paint supply orders.
Javed Ali
Karachi
Media’s shortfalls
The fiasco created by the criticism of media in the Punjab Assembly and the consequent resolution passed by the House has taken the majority of the media and hence the country’s attention well over 48 hours. I, being a sitting member of the Punjab Assembly, feel obligated to clarify a few things. Firstly, the discussion initiated by a fellow member’s speech was basically about one aspect of journalism, that being yellow journalism.
Zafar Zulqurnain
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