PESHAWAR: A plan of the government to facilitate checkup of women patients in public sector hospitals, especially in rural areas, has proved an exercise in futility owing to violation of merit in selection of officials for the programme, sources say.

The government had decided to launch a crash programme for introducing female technicians to facilitate medical examination of women patients in public sector hospitals. In this connection, the MMA-led government had passed a bill from the provincial assembly in 2008 seeking to ensure presence of female technicians in the hospitals.

The law was passed after reports surfaced that male technicians were performing ECG and other examinations of female patients which was against the local culture as women were hesitant to be examined by a male doctor. The project was launched by the health department in 2009 to cope with the shortage of lady doctors and ensure presence of women technicians at the time of conduct of ultrasound and ECG etc of women patients.

For this purpose, the health department launched training programme in four districts including Mardan, Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad.

Sources allege violation of merit in selection of female technicians

Sources told Dawn that 270 women were trained in two batches of 2009 and 2010 from each of the designated districts and they were posted there.

However, the doctors say that the women technicians are of no use for the patients as they lack the required knowledge and skills. They are not involved in patients’ healthcare, they add.

The project was aimed at imparting training to more than 700 women technicians, who were later appointed at the government-run hospitals to facilities women patients. However, the doctors say they are not of any utility and are just a burden on the resources.

According to the plan, the technicians should be selected from the selected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa having secondary school certificate (matriculation) with science but the authorities concerned violated the rules and candidates, who didn’t possess the desired qualification, were selected.

The Provincial Health Services Academy, Peshawar, which coordinated the programme, selected candidates from other districts, sources said. They added that most of the selected women belonged to Peshawar district, majority of them belonged to the constituency of the then health minister, whose sister acted as coordinator of the programme.

The doctors say that the purpose of the programme couldn’t be fulfilled owing to appointment of unqualified women. According to them, the technicians were required to prepare women patients for ultrasound and ECG etc before the involvement of male doctor or male technician or assist surgeons in operation theatres and other procedure but they lacked the basic training.

Most of the Peshawar-based technicians, who had been selected on quota of other districts, were sent to hospitals and public health schools from where they managed to get transferred back to Peshawar, sources said.

Contrary to the plan to strengthen healthcare services for women patients in rural areas of the target districts, most of the technicians were currently posted in Peshawar, sources said. “As there is no job description for these technicians, they sit idle at their duty places and the female patients are yet to benefit from their presence,” they added.

As a rule, the services of those technicians weren’t transferable with a view to ensure better care of female patients in their own areas.

Sources said that they were not properly trained to be deployed in wards and other important places in the hospitals. In some places, they worked as clerks, receptionists or operators etc in schools and hospitals. According to senior officials, the government has launched inquiry into the recruitment of the women technicians.

A computer operator, who then called the shots at the PHSA, made mess of things.

Duration of two-year technician course was shortened to one year.

Former health minister Syed Zahir Ali Shah told Dawn that due process had been followed in selection and appointment of the technicians and they were facilitating female patients. “We have imparted them training in line with the prescribed criteria to ensure that women get better healthcare facilities at the hospitals. We have appointed qualified people in patients’ interests,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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MINGORA: More than 70 women and their children are staying in the lone shelter home (Darul Aman) of Malakand division which has accommodation capacity for 40 women only.

The inmates say that they face multiple issues in the shelter home but authorities concerned are least bothered to pay attention to their problems. The shelter home, situated in Mingora, caters to the needs of needy women of seven districts of Malakand division.

“There are only four rooms for more than 70 women where they have been accommodated like animals in a stable. Most of the women have health issues but they are neglected and there is no system for cleanliness,” said Tabassum Adnan, the chairperson of Khwendo Jirga, after visiting the shelter home.

Several children are also staying in the shelter home along with their mothers. The future of such children is at stake.

Apart from elderly and mentally retarded women, some teenage girls also stay in the shelter home.

“I have come out of my home as my family was not allowing me to get education. I want to get higher education,” 16-year-old Sidra told Dawn. She said that lack of space was major issue in the shelter home. “There must be separate bed for every woman and girl staying here,” she added.

Inmates say authorities have neglected them

The women staying in the shelter home said that there must be several toilets and washrooms and proper system of cleanliness in the building. “There are only two toilets in the shelter home and we have problems with the mentally retarded women living with us,” said a woman, who wished not to be named.

Most of the women said that they were suffering from skin diseases owing to lack cleanliness.

The children staying in the shelter home along with their mothers also said that the rooms were small and the building was congested.  

“My father would beat my mother and would not take care of me so police brought us here. Although we get food yet the building is small and I am not happy here,” said 10-year-old Afsa. About 10 staff members including four women and six men work in the shelter home. “There must be another warden to take care of the hostel,” said Nosheen, the warden of the shelter home.

District Social Welfare Officer Rahtullah Khan, who is also the superintendent of the shelter home, said that he was searching for new building with enough space and once he found 15 to 20 rooms building he would hired it immediately.

He said that there should be a permanent building of the shelter home, properly designed for the purpose with hostel, waiting rooms, guestrooms and vocational centres.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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KARACHI: Sindh Local Government Minister Sharjeel Memon has terminated the services of 1,841 ghost employees in the education department of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC).

The minister also suspended 37 town municipal officers and town officers for failing to deposit six-month details of accounts of their respective towns.

Mr Memon told Dawn that with the sacking of a large number of ghost employees, who were in different grades from grade-1 to 17, the KMC would save Rs600 million per year.

In the second phase, he said, the ghost employees from other departments of the KMC, district municipal corporations and Karachi Water & Sewerage Board would be sacked and their lists were being prepared.

In response to a question, he said that so far 56,000 employees had opened their accounts with the Sindh Bank in accordance with the new biometric system, as after July 1 no employee of the LG institution could draw his salary from any other bank.

The minister said that the employees who failed to get their accounts opened with the Sindh Bank would be sacked within a week or so.

The 1,841 ghost employees were enrolled in the KMC’s education department in different grades and despite repeated warning they did not report for duty for long.

Mr Memon also directed the KMC administrator to submit a report within 15 days about the recruitments of the ghost employees and about those officers who appointed them so that cases could be instituted against them with the anti-corruption establishment.

Most of the sacked employees were appointed as primary schoolteachers. They were getting salary regularly without performing their duty and finally the government decided to terminate their services.

Referring to the termination of 37 TMOs, the minister said that they did not comply with his orders regarding depositing the details of six-month accounts of their respective towns.

Mr Memon said that he suspended the TMOs under the Removal From Service Ordinance, 2000 with the warning that they would be sacked if failed to deposit the details of the accounts.

Earlier, he said, these officers were issued show-cause notices on June 22 and on June 27 for providing the accounts details but they failed to do so. They did not submit the details and finally he had suspended them.

The suspended TMOs are: Amir Ali Bhutto (admn branch), Faisal Hasan Daheri (admn branch), Abdul Rasool Khoso (Sakrand), Syed Muhammad Ali Shah (admn branch), Mian Imran Andhair (Sualehput), Khalid Khan Kharoosh and Waqar Ahmed (Obaro), Syed Javed Hasan Shah (Pano Aqil), Agha Khaliq Ahmed Khan Durrani and Syed Ahsan Ali Shah (Sohbo Dero), Agha Amjad Ali Pathan (Ghari Khero), Manzoor Hussain Samejo, Gada Hussain Zardari and Shafqat (Jhaddo), Baghan Khan Nandwani (Tangwani), Liaquat Ali Bhatti and Abid Ali Khoso (Manjhand), Amar Lal Akarani and Ali Ahmed Magsi (Hala), Iqtedar Ali Jafri and Mehboob Ali Bariri (Shaheed Benaziabad), Abdul Hameed Shaikh (Diplo), Majid Anwar Sehar and Muhammad Ibrahim Umrani (Tando Adam), Waheed Panhiyar and Ejaz Ahmed Mallah (Mero Khan), Anisur Rehman Sayal (DMC-Korangi), Zahoor Ahmed Lakhan (Naushero Feroz), Syed Ejaz Ali Shah (Malir), Ayaz Hameedullah Baloch (Malir), Alamghir Junejo (Sanjharo), Mehtab Ali Khawaja (Samaro), Fayyaz Ali Shah and Syed Ali Haider Shah, Syed Ali Mughari, Zainul Abideen Malik (Kunri) and Azizur Rehman Tunio.

The minister also declared that the government would not tolerate corruption and ghost employees in the local government department and every corrupt officer or employee would be taken to task.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Tuesday approved extension of the 7th National Finance Commission (NFC) award to provide due fiscal shares to provinces allocated in the federal budget for 2015-16.

The Presidency issued a one-line official handout informing the media that the president had signed the summary regarding extension of the 7th NFC award.

The centre has already informed provinces about their next year’s shares set in the federal budget. However, a senior government official said provinces had made their budgets on the basis of previous award.

The last year’s NFC award expired on Tuesday (June 30) and on the same day it was extended by the president.

It has been reported that extension of the existing award required consent of at least three provinces.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had earlier asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to extend the award for only three months and ensure finalisation of the 9th NFC award before Sept 30 this year.

The summary approved by the president explained why the presidential order was required to extend the 7th award for another year.

The reason was that the reconstituted NFC, in its first meeting on April 28, formed five committees which would take time to complete their deliberations. It is, therefore, a constitutional requirement to extend the previous award for distribution of divisible pool taxes till a consensus is developed on the new award.

The government believed that it was in the interest of all stakeholders to continue with the previous arrangements for a full year, instead of indulging in fresh budgetary exercises in the middle of the year.

Under the present (7th NFC) award (2009) which is operative, financial autonomy of provinces has been strengthened by increasing their share in the divisible pool (taxes) from 50 per cent to 56pc in the fiscal year 2010-11 and to 57.5pc from 2011-12 onwards.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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KARACHI: After announcing that they would be carrying out loadshedding in localities marked out as low-loss areas after a shortfall of around 70MW to 80MW of electricity, K-Electric on Tuesday reverted to their system of load-shed in high-loss and medium-loss areas.

A spokesman for the power utility said that they had decided not to go ahead with their new load-shed plan after the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp) came back on line on Tuesday morning.

Kanupp has been providing 70MW to 80MW to KE but it tripped on Monday after which KE had announced its plan to carry out up to three hours of loadshedding in low-loss areas such as SITE, Saddar, Clifton, Defence Housing Authority (DHA), Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Tipu Sultan Road, Korangi Industrial Model Zone and Bin Qasim besides Hub and Uthal. These places have been marked by KE as low-loss areas as there have been hardly any cases of power theft there while the residents of these areas regularly pay their bills.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) had expressed his surprise at the power utility’s taking such a drastic step while citing them as a reason for the shortfall. “But we only supply them 80MW of power. How can it cause such a major shortfall as compared to the 2,100MW they run the city with?”

KE’s spokesman said that they were getting around 50MW to 60MW from Kanupp on Tuesday. “It is enough to make us take back our decision of loadshedding in low-loss areas,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: It was not the ‘violation’ of the visa category but some other concerns that led the federal government to expel three Filipino missionary workers.

According to a letter the interior ministry wrote to Mr Rufin Anthony, Bishop Diocese of Islamabad–Rawalpindi on June 26, complaints such as “accusations of discrimination” and alleged concealment of offences (abuse of a six-year-old child at a school) were under the consideration of the ministry of interior before it cancelled the visas of the missionary workers.

Miraflor Aclan Bahan, the principal of the Islamabad Convent School, Sector F-8; Delia Coyoca Rubio, principal Islamabad Convent H-8, and Elizabeth Umail Siguenza, finance officer at H-8 Convent School, were on June 16 directed to leave the country within 15 days.

Interestingly, a month earlier, the ministry had extended the visas for a couple of years.

In the letter addressed to the bishop, the interior ministry disapproved of the filing of a petition with the IHC saying: “If you had any reservation over the cancellation of visa of your employees, you should have applied to the federal government for revision of the decision. To the contrary, despite being a responsible organisation, you chose to scandalise the case through the media…this amount to giving political twist to a purely legal matter.”

The letter added, “there have been serious accusations of discrimination against Muslims while ignoring (and in some case) flouting the clear-cut regulations governing schools.”

However, when Dawn contacted some parents of the students at the Islamabad Convent, they said they never felt any ‘discrimination’.

Rukhsana Amin, whose two daughters and a son are studying in the schools, said she never felt any discrimination against Muslims in the school. She said her children were also being taught Islamic Studies in the school.

Mohammad Zafarullah, the father of another Convent student, said though the school was run by Christian missionary workers, its education never demonstrated anything against Islam or the Muslims.

In the letter, the interior ministry accused the Convent administration of manipulating the child abuse case. It alleged, “Even more serious allegations of concealment of offences allegedly committed on your premises and diverting the course of justice.”

It added: “The ministry would like to know whether the competent personnel, as you say, were equipped and suited for the job which has been entrusted to them?”

Citing the FIR registered against a peon of the Islamabad Convent School on June 9 on the charge of abusing the six-year-old child, the ministry stated, “the parents of the aggrieved minor strongly pursued the case and in an application addressed to the ministry of interior they appealed to take action against the administration of the institution who they think have prevented the complainant from taking medico-legal action against the main culprit.”

The letter pointed out that “they (parents of the child) claimed that the administration blocked a fair and transparent enquiry into the matter and destroyed the primary/secondary evidence pertinent for proving the accused as guilty.”

The ministry also asked the Bishop to provide “verified record of the pay, perks and privileges of the three applicants concerned. Furthermore, a detailed report on their tax returns will also be necessary besides their area of responsibility.”

Advocate Rana Abid Nazir, the legal adviser to the Convent Schools, however, said the missionary workers were foreign nationals and, therefore, were not issued any national tax number (NTN) and could not provide details of the tax return.

He said by asking from the Bishop the details of pay, perks and privileges, the interior ministry itself conceded that it was not sure about the status of the missionary workers. After cancellation of the visas on mere assumptions, the ministry is now seeking for such details, he added.

Despite repeated attempts, the officials concerned in the interior ministry could not be contacted for comments.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday sought comments from the University of Peshawar’s vice chancellor and other respondents in an amended petition filed by PTI MNA Murad Saeed against cancellation of his controversial degree of BS Environmental Science by the university.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Irshad Qaisar issued the order after preliminary arguments advanced by Murad’s lawyer, who contended that the University of Peshawar (UoP) had unilaterally cancelled his degree on recommendation of a committee formed by the vice chancellor.

Lawyer Aamir Jawed said a make-up test of two papers was arranged for the petitioner in accordance with relevant procedure and he had cleared those papers. However, he added that instead of issuing him the degree the vice chancellor constituted a three-member committee which, without hearing the petitioner, recommended that his degree and make-up papers should be cancelled.

The counsel stated that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary had also set up a three-member committee for probing the whole controversy and the report of the said committee would be issued in next few days.

PHC asks Peshawar varsity, others for responding to Murad Saeed’s petition

The controversy regarding Mr Murad’s degree emerged in March when it was reported in the media that arrangements were made post haste for him to make up for his two papers -- Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Remote Sensing -- under dubious circumstances. The papers were allegedly marked and checked the same day in sheer violation of the procedure.

Following emergence of the controversy the UoP’s vice chancellor had constituted a three- member committee for probing the issue. The said committee had recommended cancellation of make-up papers as the entire procedure adopted for conducting the papers.

Earlier, in March, Murad had filed a writ petition seeking court’s order for the university to issue him the degree of BS Environmental Science for the session 2005-09. While he had not mentioned anything about his make-up examination, in that petition he had stated that he was a regular student of four year Bachelor of Environmental Sciences programme in the 2005-09 session. He had stated that he had completed all eight semesters and was entitled to have the degree. Later on, in Apr he requested the court to allow him to file an amended writ petition as in the meantime several developments had taken place in the case.

Meanwhile, the bench sought comments from the Election Commission of Pakistan and UoP in another writ petition seeking disqualification of Murad on ground of allegedly submitting false declaration with the commission during the 2013 general elections.

The petition is filed by an inhabitant of Swat, Haider Ali Shah, who claimed to be a voter of NA-27 Swat from where Murad was elected as MNA in the 2013 general elections.

Murad’s lawyer submitted his comments requesting the court to dismiss the petition as it was not maintainable. He stated that a law maker could only be disqualified under Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution if there was a decree of the court in that regard. He added that in his case he had attached his intermediate degree with his nomination papers, therefore, he could not be blamed for giving misstatement about his graduation.

Syed Haziq Ali Shah, lawyer for the petitioner, said apart from Murad, the ECP and UoP were also respondents in the case and their comments might also be sought.

He said the MNA had made certain declarations which were not based on facts and had thus cheated the ECP as well as the voters of his constituency.

The lawyer said the MNA had submitted declaration that neither he nor his family members were in default of any payment of government dues or utility charges including telephone, electricity, gas and water charges of an amount in excess of Rs 10,000. However, he stated that while a student of Bachelor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Peshawar the MNA was a resident of Room No 119, in New Hostel at the University of Peshawar and thus defaulted in payment of various dues including that of hostel dues amounting to Rs19,680.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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AN escalating quarrel between the government and K-Electric, the country’s only privately owned power distribution company, carries grave risks for everybody. What is making the whole spat even more frustrating is that both parties to the dispute — the government and the management of K-Electric — lack credibility in the eyes of the public. K-Electric has used a slick public relations campaign to present itself as something of a miracle worker in lifting the power utility into profitability. But beneath this claim lurk a series of very serious allegations. They include charges of rapacious recoveries levelled by industrialists, allegations by the regulator that the top management at the utility issued instructions to staff to engage in overbilling, and more sinister accusations of gas theft, abortively touched upon by NAB as part of the investigation into the Ogra scam. It would be premature to conclude that the management’s job is done once the balance sheet shows a profit.

On the other hand, the claims and shrill allegations being made by the government against the utility also lack credibility. The government has told the Supreme Court that the power utility owes Rs130bn to the government whereas K-Electric’s own documents suggest that the amount owed is Rs72bn, while it in turn is owed Rs194bn by the government under various heads such as the tariff differential subsidy and overdue bills from KWSB and CDGK. The government has also alleged that the utility is not utilising its own sources of generation, preferring instead to rely on easy supply of power from the national grid. But is a reliable supply of gas available to enable own generation at full capacity? And has the government been prompt in paying the tariff differential subsidy it is required to pay in the event of generation using furnace oil?

Thus far the feud is restricted to words but if it should escalate it could rekindle memories of the disastrous episode with Hubco during the last Nawaz Sharif government. That act hobbled private investment in the power sector for years, in addition to playing a major role in causing multilateral inflows to dry up. The government must avoid letting matters escalate to that point in the present feud. Perhaps the best way to move things forward without damaging prospects for further private investment in the power sector would be to make public the implementation agreement of 2009 under which the current management of K-Electric assumed charge. More than the visceral words emanating from the Ministry of Water & Power these days, that document will make clear what benchmarks were set to assess performance of the new management at the onset of their venture. Since both parties to the dispute have gaps in their credibility, perhaps the public can be the best judge of who has a point and who is simply trying to deflect the blame.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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http://www.dawn.com/news/1191466/irresponsible-warning

NEARLY every woman in Pakistan has been witness or victim to it. A woman, an aunt, a sister, becomes pregnant. If she has daughters or even if she does not, the hope is for a boy. In the prayers old ladies bestow on the woman, to the vocalised aspirations of all relatives, the hope, the desire, the goal is a boy. For all but a few families, therefore, the birth of a girl is a loss.

Given the dynamics of shame in the country, some cover this up with forced smiles and platitudes; others visibly mourn and mope. The numbers for a while testified to the reality: 105.7 boys born for every 100 girls. In parts of the world where such prejudice does not exist, the natural ratio so to speak, is usually about 50/50. Expanded into millions it becomes a huge gap between men and women.

It was only a matter of time before technology was put into the service of patriarchy. According to the Population Research Institute, that calls itself a non-profit research group, and that collects data on sex selective abortion, over 1.2 million female foetuses were aborted in Pakistan in the years between 2000 and 2014. The yearly average of sex selective abortions is 116,384. The numbers are reportedly trumped only by China and India, both of which have significantly larger populations than Pakistan and who see around 800,000 and 600,000 sex selective abortions every year. The numbers are calculated using census numbers and life expectancy and then projecting the natural ratio and noting the disparity between what should be and what is.

These estimates may be surprising to some, at least in this sort of public presentation. Reproductive health is in itself a loaded issue in Pakistan, where fertility and a woman’s ability to give birth and then give birth to a son has huge impact on the quality of her life. In private conversations, reproductive healthcare professionals tell of the onerous professional decisions they face when confronted with infertility issues. Women, afraid of losing their marriages, will often beg their doctors to keep information from their in-laws. In sum, the issue of a woman’s ability to bear children is a fraught one.

Sex selective abortions are obviously happening in Pakistan and at a rate higher than in many other countries.

With so much riding on the ability and possibility of a woman bearing a child, it is unsurprising that, even in educated families, misinformation and secrecy reigns. Abortion for any reason is a taboo subject, with no statistics available as to who or why or when abortions are necessitated and what sort of care is available to women who have them. Given the rest of Pakistan’s dismal numbers on maternal health (the majority of poor women have virtually no access to healthcare) and the deplorable mix of coercion and abuse that hounds most women, it can safely be assumed that most who avail of them do so in secrecy, with a good number perishing in the process. Life in general is cheap in Pakistan and women’s lives even cheaper.

Numbers, however, do not lie. Sex selective abortions, where parents discover the gender of the foetus and then abort it, are obviously happening in Pakistan and at a rate higher than in Vietnam, Malaysia, Azerbaijan and others. Nor is there any hope, it seems; with girls married off at younger ages (half of married women between the ages of 20-24 were married before they were even 18), little training for those providing reproductive health services and coercive in-laws and husbands wanting sons at any cost, the number of these abortions will most likely rise.

The high cost of raising children, expected only to get higher, is likely to facilitate its popularity; the country’s increasingly urban character will add to it. Boys after all are investments with rates of return; girls, we are told, are always liabilities. Normally, the ever-vigilant religious vanguard of Pakistani society would rise up and rant against the killing of the unborn; but patriarchy, it seems, silences even the most pious and the issue of saving unborn girls does not appear on their agenda.

Should we feel sorry for the 1.2m gone girls of Pakistan, the ones who were killed before they ever had a chance to live? Instinct and empathy would say yes; a chance at life is after all a chance at change, at making something of oneself, at a future. This sort of wish, however, aligns poorly with the realities of Pakistani society.

As a large number of unborn girls of Pakistan continue to be eliminated soon after they make their first appearances on this or that ultrasound monitor, as the number of gone girls rises from the hundreds of thousands a year to the millions, the men may notice. Future generations could see a Pakistan transformed from one where women are increasingly banished and invisible to one where women are simply not there anymore. If the level of misogyny regularly witnessed in the pages of newspapers, the murders and kidnappings, the discrimination and abuse are any indicator, then it seems that the numbers of women could dwindle further.

This ‘womanless’ world, one that the country’s men seem to want to create, by harassing and constraining, banning and eliminating, raping and disrespecting, would be a good fate for them. Those that plan and plot and kill girls before they are born, who imagine their hushed act as having no consequences, would face the collective catastrophe brought on by a million others that thought the same. In the meantime, many unborn girls of Pakistan are at risk or probably, gone girls.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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HOSPITALS overflowed with the victims of heatstroke and the mortuaries had no room as the death toll spiralled. Heatwaves are not unusual in summer, but last week was exceptionally hot in Karachi with the mercury soaring to a record high. There was also no respite with the water supply drying up and power breakdowns exacerbating woes.

The sizzling heat has exposed the vulnerability of the mega city that already has a dysfunctional infrastructure and is subjected to poor governance. What is, however, most unfortunate is the way a national tragedy has been turned into a source of bickering and political point-scoring, deflecting attention from the underlying problems of this ever-growing city of an estimated 20 million residents.

More than the tyranny of the weather, it was the callous attitude of an inept provincial administration that was responsible for the death and suffering in Karachi. If not completely preventable, the crisis could have easily been tackled by a prior public warning, timely response and some basic medical facilities made available to the hapless populace.

While citizen volunteers and charity groups were out in the field trying to ease the suffering of the people, the government was nowhere to be seen. The administration was virtually nonexistent as overcrowded public and private hospitals shut their doors to the constant inflow of patients and the stench of dead bodies lying in corridors filled the air.

It was not before hundreds of people had already died that the chief minister surfaced, blaming K-Electric and the federal government for the people’s plight. Surely, he claimed, that was no fault of his administration. No realisation of the gravity of the situation, no emergency measures to contain the damage were forthcoming.

It was the callous attitude of an inept provincial regime that was responsible for the suffering in Karachi.

In a more theatrical turn, the next day the octogenarian leader led some of his cabinet ministers to protest in front of the K-Electric headquarters. When the short show, staged largely for TV cameras, ended, the ubiquitous Sharjeel Memon promised to register a case against the private power distribution company. It was an easy scapegoat to cover up for the administration’s own criminal negligence.

Although the heatwave had subsided to a large extent by the time he woke up to the gravity of the situation, Qaim Ali Shah came up with an ingenious idea to deal with the crisis. He declared a public holiday. One is not sure if it was meant to protect the people from the blistering sun or just to calm down growing public anger.

Finally, some government-sponsored relief camps have started emerging in different parts of the city when the intensity of the heatwave has already eased with the return of the sea breeze. That also followed full-page advertisements in the national newspapers with detailed instructions on how to avoid heatstroke and prevent dehydration. Though useful, the instructions came too late when the crisis had already abated.

The real tragedy is that most of the patients suffered from dehydration and could have easily been treated. It would have taken just dozens of relief camps around the city, providing shade, drinking water and ORS, and intravenous drips to rehydrate most patients. This would have allowed the hospitals to take care of more serious cases.

For sure, the deaths were concentrated amongst the elderly or those who were fasting, but that cannot be used as an excuse for ineptitude. There has certainly been no preparation despite the warnings. Heatstroke can occur at any temperature over 40ºC and immediate professional medical help could have saved many lives. What saved the situation to some extent were the camps set up by volunteers, the Rangers and the army. But obviously, these efforts were not sufficient to deal with such a large number of victims.

Most disconcerting, however, were the contradictory statements by provincial ministers on the cause of death. While Sharjeel Memon declared that half the deaths were caused by power cuts, in a way blaming the federal government and K-Electric, the health minister said 60pc of the dead were homeless. It is immaterial whether the dead were homeless or not, they were human beings and citizens of Karachi and the administration cannot escape the basic responsibility of protecting their lives.

One glaring example of the breakdown of even the basic service infrastructure in Karachi was Rescue 1122. While the Sindh government claimed the service was available 24/7, a private TV channel showed a compound completely deserted with several imported Mercedes ambulances rotting in the open, seemingly unused for years. One wonders where the billions of rupees including the large amount of foreign aid meant for the health system in the province has gone.

While it may be true that the federal government is not directly responsible for bad governance in the province, it too cannot be absolved of its obligations towards a federating unit. Even the death of hundreds of people did not bring the prime minister to visit the country’s economic jugular.

Many in the province feel that the attitude of the federal government would have been entirely different had such a tragedy happened in the prime minister’s home province. The federal ministers seemed more interested in political point-scoring, showing little concern for the sufferings of the people of Karachi.

What happened in Karachi has opened up fault lines that show how Pakistan’s largest city is vulnerable to extreme weather patterns. It was certainly not for the first time the country experienced an unusually hot summer, but one had never witnessed this kind of collapse of public services and the administration before.

The hot spell has also drawn attention to the impact of environmental change. The heatwave in Karachi only shows how large a toll climate change can extract. There are examples of other countries taking measures to deal with extreme weather fluctuation. But, unfortunately, this important issue seems to be low on our list of national priorities. With hundreds of lives lost, one can only hope that we will learn some lessons from the Karachi tragedy.

The writer is an author and journalist.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has failed to achieve the outgoing fiscal year’s revenue collection target of Rs2.605 trillion, which was already revised thrice, and collected Rs2.580tr, a shortfall of Rs25 billion.

The revenue collection grew by more than 14pc in 2014-15 compared to last year’s Rs2.255tr.

A senior tax official told Dawn that the data is provisional and that revenue collection will go up after finalisation of the figures in the next couple of weeks. “We are still collecting and compiling information from various banks and State Bank regarding deposits of taxes,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

The deadline for the payment of duty and taxes was 10pm on June 30 across the country, the official added.

The revenue target was originally set at Rs2.810tr for the outgoing fiscal year, but then revised to Rs2.605tr. So, considering the budgetary target, the shortfall expands to Rs230bn.

Critics say the failure is mainly because of poor governance and tax compliance issues.

The official said the revenue collection was mostly hit by the decline in oil and commodity prices on the international market. “The decline is also the outcome of no collection of general sales tax on the two projected revenue spinners,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has expressed the hope that Pakistan would rid itself of the crippling poliovirus within two years.

Talking to International Polio Plus Committee Chairman Michael K. McGovern, who had called on him along with a delegation at the Presidency on Tuesday, the president was quoted as saying that Pakistan was not responsible for the spread of polio; rather the elements who had spread terrorism in the region should be blamed for it.

He reiterated that Pakistan was committed to eradicating the poliovirus and called upon the international community to be considerate towards Pakistan and extend all possible cooperation in this regard so that the country would work to eliminate the crippling disease without any problems.

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) assistance programme for the eradication of polio in Pakistan is set to end by 2018. However, it is a good sign that this year reported polio cases are said to be far less than those reported in 2014. So far in 2015, 25 cases have been reported, as against 306 in 2014.

Vaccination drives in remote parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) are believed to be one of the major reasons for a significant decline in the number of polio cases in the country this year.

The president emphasised that Pakistan’s commitment to polio eradication remained firm and resolute. He also stressed that the polio eradication programme enjoyed the government ownership at the highest levels.

“The chief ministers of all the provinces are paying special attention to ensure that every child is reached by the polio programme,” he said.

He mentioned that the government of Pakistan’s decisive action against terrorism had a positive effect on the polio eradication initiative and appreciated the role of Rotary International as a major partner of the government in its campaign against polio.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr McGovern lauded the commitment and seriousness of the efforts of the government for eradication of polio and assured the president that he would speak to the Unicef head to lift travel restrictions imposed on Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Tuesday that oil prices would remain unchanged during July.

Addressing a ceremony here he said he had rejected a summary of the petroleum ministry for an increase in the prices of petroleum products.

He said the government would provide Rs2.5 billion subsidy to meet the difference in prices.

With the aim of helping the general public during Ramazan, he said the government would not increase the petroleum prices.

Based on existing tax rates, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had worked out an increase in the prices of petrol, High-Octane Blended Component (HOBC) and kerosene and a slight reduction in diesel prices, but had advised the government on Monday to maintain price stability to avoid inflationary impact on transportation during the holy month.

Rs2.5 billion subsidy to meet the difference in prices

Mr Sharif said as per Ogra’s recommendations forwarded by the petroleum ministry, the petrol prices were to go up by Rs4.26 per litre.

According to the ministry’s summary, the price of kerosene was to be increased by 67 paisa per litre and that of HOBC by Rs7.30 per litre. The price of high speed diesel (HSD) was recommended to be reduced by 60 paisa and that of light diesel oil by eight paisa per litre.

Officials of the finance ministry and Federal Board of Revenue have been directed to make adjustments in petroleum levy and general sales tax (GST) rates to partially offset the loss in petrol prices through savings from diesel prices.

Accordingly, the government increased general sales tax on HSD by one per cent to 29pc and petroleum levy by 18 paisa to Rs7.94 per litre to create an additional cushion for reduction in petrol price.

The GST on petrol was on the other hand reduced by 2pc to 17pc and petroleum levy to Rs7.54 from Rs8.30 per litre.

The HSD sales across the country are over 600,000 tons a day and of petrol around 400,000 tons, while daily sales of HOBC and kerosene are less than 10,000 tons.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has imposed a Rs17.8 million fine on five oil marketing companies for not maintaining sufficient stocks of petroleum products in violation of their licence requirements which led to the country’s worst petrol crisis in January.

The companies were fined after completion of separate proceedings against them in which they were allowed to defend themselves. All of them were issued show-cause notices for not maintaining adequate stocks which resulted in acute shortages.

The five companies have been asked to deposit the fine within 10 days.

Ogra also imposed a fine of Rs9.1m on Askari Oil Marketing Company — a commercial arm of the armed forces — for violation of the Pakistan Petroleum Refining, Blending & Marketing Rules 1971 at the rate of Rs100,000 per defaulting petrol pump.

Ogra said the marketing company’s defence was not plausible as it developed 91 outlets between 2011 and 2015. It said the company had violated the government’s policy and directives of Ogra despite categorical instructions not to expand petrol pumps without necessary storage arrangements.

It also imposed a fine of Rs4.7m on Admore Gas Private Limited. It said that Admore first disowned such petrol pumps and removed them from the list provided to Ogra, but it was unacceptable.

It was fined Rs100,000 per outlet for 47 pumps.

Ogra imposed Rs1.6m fine on Byco Petroleum. It said Byco’s response to a show-cause notice was untenable because Ogra’s decision to suspend its marketing operations in 2011 was challenged by Byco which kept such stations running; they deposited the penalty in 2014 along with storage development plan and its operations were restored.

Byco, however, did not possess its own storage infrastructure. It said Byco’s expansion of 16 pumps was in gross violation of rules. Hence, Rs100,000 fine per pump found in violation of law.

Hascol Petroleum was fined Rs1.9m because it also appeared to have misled Ogra. It said storage facility referred by Hascol in KP were in fact storage of a lube oil blending plant and the Ogra had asked the company twice to get it inspected through third party inspectors if it claimed them to be storage infrastructure but remained reluctant.

“The said storage, therefore, cannot be considered as HPL storage infrastructure in KP,” Ogra said and pointed out that it developed 19 retail outlets in KP and Balochistan in violation of government policy and Ogra instructions.

While imposing Rs0.5m fine on Overseas Oil Trading, Ogra said the company had expanded its petrol pump network without back-up storage. The region-wise storage infrastructure was very vital and no such expansion could be allowed under rules unless backed up with necessary supply points and storage.

Violation of storage infrastructure requirement is violation of rules, said Ogra, adding that it had imposed fine on all companies under Section 6(2) (p)of the Ogra Ordinance and Rule 44 of the Pakistan Petroleum Refining, Blending & Marketing Rules.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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OKARA: Gogera police registered a case against 47 suspects, including a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MPA, for barging into the house of a woman and firing in the air at her farms in Fatehpur village.

Noor Akhtar filed an application alleging that on June 23 MPA Masood Shafqat Rubera along with around 50 armed men entered her house in Fatehpur, 35km north of the city, and started shooting in the air besides threatening her ailing father with dire consequences.

Later, the men went to her farms in the suburbs of the village and fired in the air to scare people.

Even after a week since the incident, Gogera police had allegedly refused to file a complaint. The woman went to the district police officer (DPO) and requested him to file the application.

DPO Faisal Rana verified facts narrated by the complainant and got a first information report registered by Gogera police under sections 452, 447, 506-B, 511, 337(h)(2), 148, 149 of the PPC and 7 ATA against 47 men out of whom 22 were nominated, including PTI MPA Chaudhry Rubera, Zahoor Abbas, Rab Nawaz, Yasir Nawaz, Salman Nawaz, Bilawal Nawaz, Faiz Nawaz and Akram Madhool.

The DPO took strict action against the Gogera station house officer for not initiating proceedings on the woman’s application.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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A boat anchored on the creek by Siddique Roonjho village

“Humein roti, kapra aur makaan nahi mila, to hum ne chai, pakora aur paan pe guzara karna seekh lia hai,” (We never received 'bread, clothing and housing' [PPP slogan] so we have learnt to survive on tea, fritters and betel leaves) says fisherman Ali Raza.

Hailing from Siddique Roonjho village in Sindh, the 35-year-old manages a small smile, incongruous with the frown edged on his forehead; a young face deepened with early lines of stress.

Ali has lived his life on the water, hunting fish for his family since he was a teenager. His village is almost an island in the middle of the Indus River that provides livelihood for the entire village, but ironically there is not a drop for them to drink.

Ali and the rest of the villagers have spent a greater part of their lives in search of drinking water.

The village is nestled on the left bank of River Indus, in Taluka Kharo Chan of Sindh’s Thatta district. It is a five hour journey from Karachi and an hour long boat ride to the little hamlet. Aloof from the mainland, the village is physically cut off from land and surrounded by water on three sides.

The island itself is an arid plain. There is no electricity, no hospital, no school; no human contact for miles. The population of 140 own only two boats for fishing.

One of the two boats that the village owns.

“We migrated from Sokhi Bander near the Indus Delta years ago because there was no more fresh water available there. The land dried up. We only used to get salty water,” says 40-year-old Zulfiqar. “Our families settled here at Siddique Roonjho but now we are facing the same problem here.”

The sea's intrusion into the Indus has caused hundreds of villagers living around the river's creeks scrambling to find sweet water. Hoping to ease their plight, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan came up with a solution for the water shortage. A reservoir has been built to store fresh water from rain and the Indus Delta during the monsoon months.

“This system works because there are natural fresh water flows during from July to October, which lessens their dependency on rain. The stored water is then used for the next six months,” explains Muhammad Tahir Abbasi, site coordinator at WWF-Pakistan. “We have also installed bio-sand filters that reduce the impurity in the water by 40 to 55 per cent.”

The murky water of the WWF reservoir.

This alone has not curbed the water shortage however. The villagers say the stored water is insufficient, forcing them to travel to the nearest town, Gharo, to fill water cans for Rs 20.

Zero literacy rate

The WWF is trying to solve the water crisis, but development and progress in the village continues to be nil.

The literacy rate is zero, though all the men do own mobile phones. None of them know how to type a text or save a contact number except for few tribal leaders who are able to read some Sindhi.

“We sometimes warn them about an approaching storm through text. At least the tribal chiefs are able to communicate that to the rest of the fishermen,” says Muhammad Tahir.

For every little commodity, even fetching sweets for children, the men have to hop on to their boats and make their way to the nearest town and walk a long distance to finally reach the marketplace.

Hidden from sight

When it comes to the women, they are largely invisible to visitors, instructed to stay in by the men; only females are allowed to approach their homes.

A light summer breeze blows through a small compound, shaded by huge swaying trees. The women are welcoming with broad smiles and handshakes, dressed in their best self-embroidered dresses. Inside the huts, there is no furniture aside from a straw sheet. A group of children are close by; little girls, dressed in brightly coloured, embellished clothes and dupattas on their heads, carried with perfection. The boys sport vibrant, summer shades of shalwar kameez.

Group of women welcome female journalists.

The decorated interior of one of the houses.

The women are quick to point out their most pressing difficulty: a lack of emergency facilities.

“In case of health emergencies, especially during childbirth complications, we have to go all the way to Ibrahim Hyderi which is more than seven hours away on the outskirts of Karachi,” says 65-year-old Asiya, who has never stepped out of her village all her life.

65-year-old Asiya says she has never stepped out of her village all her life.

The health conditions are indeed dismal but villagers do not actively try to overcome them either. It is hard to miss the eroding, discoloured teeth of all the women as they speak, their mouths constantly chewing on gutka. The women say they give the dangerous stimulant, known to cause severe health issues, to their children to stop them from crying.

It puts the children at ease, they claim.

“We have heard of cases in other villages about mouth cancer, we know it’s harmful but we are just not able to stop having it,” admits Asiya, other women solemnly nod in agreement.

It is painfully clear that the government has failed to better the lives of people in villages like this. The villagers share with an almost comical tenor how a politician, a certain Mr Tappi, had sent a generator in the village prior to the General Elections in 2013. The generator was set up, then taken back from the village post elections.

The villagers were once steadfast Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) loyalists, but not anymore. The small village, perched on dry land next to the serene river has been let down, abandoned. The residents will continue to catch fish in their two boats, cook on logs, chew gutka and search daily for sweet water.

Would the villagers ever consider leaving this life for an urban centre like Karachi?

“What would we do in Karachi? Fishing is the only thing we know”, Zulfiqar says.

A straightforward "No" is his answer.

Exploring Siddique Roonjho

The literacy rate is zero at the village, yet all the men do own mobile phones.

Children are often given *gutka* by their mothers when they don't stop crying.

A blue painted hut serves as a mosque.

The village women wear self-embroidered dresses.

The reservoir constructed by WWF.

Villagers seeing off the journalists.

A mosque at Gharo, the nearest town from Siddique Roonjho village.

KARACHI: The State Bank has tightened rules for resident Pakistanis to meet their individual foreign exchange needs related to medical treatment and studies abroad, and has imposed some conditions on money transfer.

The State Bank issued a circular to all banks on Tuesday stating that authorised dealers may remit foreign exchange up to $50,000 or equivalent in other foreign currencies on account of medical treatment of resident Pakistanis only after satisfying themselves about bona fides of the transaction.

“Remittances should be sent directly to the account of concerned reputable foreign hospital via Swift, telegraphic transfer or demand draft,” said the SBP circular.

It further said that banks should remit foreign exchange after obtaining invoice and estimate of the foreign hospital.

A ‘self-declaration’ from the patient, his or her next of kin or from sponsor declaring amount of foreign exchange essentially required for treatment abroad should also be obtained.

In addition, authorised dealers may also release cash in foreign exchange equivalent to $5,000 each to the patient and one attendant which should be duly endorsed on his/her/their passports.

Authorised dealers may remit foreign exchange to educational institutions abroad on behalf of students desirous of studying in accredited and recognised foreign institutions or universities up to $70,000 or equivalent in other foreign currencies per student per calendar year on account of application or processing charges, tuition fee, living expenses, etc, in accordance with the procedure.

In case where students are required to remit application/processing charges for admission in the foreign educational institutions, authorised dealers may make such remittances to the concerned foreign educational institution on production of documentary evidence to the satisfaction of the bank showing the amount of application or processing charges. There is no restriction on the number of institutions to which a student can apply for admission.

The authorised dealers may make remittances for tuition fee, living expenses and other dues (health, insurance, union, sports, library fees, etc) on behalf of students desirous of studying abroad who have got admission in a foreign educational institution on the basis of the documents, like application form duly filled in by the student, parent or guardian.

Also a copy of CNIC, Form ‘B’ of the student and CNIC of the parent or guardian, copy of passport of the student, letter of admission from foreign educational institution and letter or cost sheet from foreign educational institution showing break-up of expenses are required.

In order to meet the initial expenses related to boarding/lodging and/or other requirements of the student, authorised dealers can release cash foreign exchange equivalent to $5,000 to the student which should be endorsed on his/her passport.

In case of foreign exchange requirements for medical treatment and studies abroad in excess of the above limits, the authorised dealer concerned will forward the case to the director, Foreign Exchange Operations Department, SBP-BSC, Head Office, Karachi, along with justification and documentary evidence for consideration.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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LAHORE: At a militant training camp, a new recruit asks his instructor why his comrades are attacking churches and mosques rather than enemy bases. “This world is full of sin. It needs to be bathed in blood,” the instructor replies.

Nurturing seeds of doubt that will eventually lead the young man to turn away from violence. It's a scene from a three-part comic book, titled “The Guardian,” that a private group has started to distribute in schools to help combat extremism.

Read: Comic book 'Guardians' to steer young Pakistanis away from extremism

The author, 31-year-old Gauher Aftab, says it was inspired by his own experience of nearly joining militants as a teenager.

Pakistan has been battling Islamic extremists for more than a decade, but despite $30 billion in US aid and an American drone campaign, the country still hosts powerful armed groups that have killed tens of thousands of people.

A growing number of civil society initiatives are aimed at what many see as the source of the problem; indoctrination of youth.

In the southern port city of Karachi, friends of the late Sabeen Mahmud, an activist gunned down in April because of her liberal views, have assembled 300 local artists to paint over violent graffiti.

The group says it has created some 2,000 murals depicting historic buildings and nature scenes. “If you read hatred all the time, it is leaving a mark, especially on young minds,” said artist Adeela Suleman, who's taking part in the project.

In this photo taken Thursday, June 4, 2015, local artists paint over violent graffiti on the wall of an apartment complex and offices after getting permission in Karachi, Pakistan. — AP

Aftab recalls his own experience in the late 1990s at Aitchison College, an elite school in the eastern city of Lahore where a former student who had become a well-known jihadi was revered as a cult hero.

The militant, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, would go on to kidnap and kill Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

Aftab says he was brainwashed at the college by his religious studies instructor, a veteran of Afghanistan's civil war, who convinced him to join militants fighting India in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

He had worked out a plan with his teacher to travel to Kashmir after the school year ended.

But two days before then, his parents showed up unannounced because there had been a death in his family. “Being a 12-year-old or a 13-year-old with limited access, I couldn't leave home and join that particular struggle."

After three months at home with his parents, he reconsidered the decision. He eventually graduated at the top of his class and went on to attend Knox College, a liberal arts school in Illinois.

Now Aftab works with a group called CFXcomics, which aims to counter extremist propaganda. His comic book has been translated into Urdu by a legendary Pakistani playwright, Amjad Islam Amjad.

The group has distributed 15,000 copies in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province, focusing on areas of militant recruitment, says Managing Director Mustafa Hasnain. CFXcomics has also launched a free app that allows people to read the book on mobile devices, and plans to release another 49 volumes.

The project is funded by an NGO called Hope Alive. The graphic novel follows two idealistic young men, Asim and Munir, who decide to join a militant organisation because of its charitable activities.

When they find themselves at a militant training camp, Munir embraces the group's violent message while Asim questions it and ultimately leaves. The two are reunited after Munir is captured in a counter terrorism raid.

They then team up and use religious arguments to convince their captured trainer that he was wrong. Eventually the message is carried up the chain to top militant commanders.

Aftab says he began working on the comic book after a mass shooting at a military school in Peshawar in December, in which Taliban militants shot dead 150 people, nearly all of them students.

“People thought that they were protected. They then realised that we have a shared goal. We need to save our children from people who will kill them,” he said.

The comic book's message could still prove a tough sell in Pakistan's schools. Some Pakistanis believe America and the West are at war with Islam, thereby justifying attacks.

One student, 14-year-old Asim Mahmood, said he learned from the comic that terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. But when asked if he would fight to defend Islam, he said he would.

GWADAR: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has said that extremism, sectarianism and negative trends are being spread in society to cause chaos and destruction in the province and to impede progress and development in the province.

Talking to different delegations of people, who called on him in Turbat, the chief minister said that people of Balochistan were Muslims from generations but some hidden hands were promoting extremism and sectarianism to divide the people on these lines and cause anarchy and destruction to stop development of the province.

Dr Baloch underlined the need for promoting moderate and progressive thoughts to foil scourge of sectarianism and extremism which were impeding progress and prosperity of people.

He pledged that the government would deal with such elements sternly.

The chief minister said that the government had taken several measures for development of the province to boost its economy so that the people could get jobs and become prosper.

He said that development work on the Turbat Dates Factory project was under way and Turbat would soon be declared industrial zone soon and farmers of dates would be provided packing material free of cost to boost dates’ industry.

He said the government would also ink a new agreement with Iran for supply of electricity to the Mekran division.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2015

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