Gender disparity

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/24/gender-disparity.html

 

Gender disparity

EDUCATION is the constitutional right of every Pakistani and is the only way towards progress and survival in this scientific age. Every government focuses on education without discriminating on the basis of gender. But the situation is quite different in Pakistan.
There is a lack of concern on female literacy in our country. The government seems to be least bothered about increasing the literacy rate among girls in Sindh. This situation is resulting in an increase of illiteracy among females who constitute 52 per cent of the total population of the country.
Wahi Pandhi is a small city of Dadu with a population of over 40,000. This city is devoid of secondary and higher secondary schools for girls. As a result, after passing Class V girls give up their studies. This is the reason that the majority of people in the area are not educated, especially since residents do not wish to send their daughters to get education at a boys’ high school.
The parents are, however, willing to send their daughters to secondary and higher secondary schools provided they are exclusively for girls. The lack of educational institutions is resulting in girls being deprived of their basic right.
This is leading to other complex issues. As girls cannot continue their studies, child marriages, incompatible marriages and polygamy are common here.
Girls endure all that, considering it their fate. These girls become mothers but they are unaware of health and nutritional needs of their infants. It increases infant mortality rate in the area. These double standards adopted by the Sindh government are contrary to the tall claims of women empowerment and steps for protection of their rights.
There are a number of human rights organisations and rights activists in Islamabad who have been talking of women’s rights and their empowerment in Pakistan. They are either unaware of the women’s problems of Wahi Pandhi or they are deliberately maintaining a silence on this issue because of some reasons. Don’t women of Wahi Pandhi have rights?
It is the responsibility of the government of Sindh to take note of the educational problems of girls residing in Wahi Pandhi and establish schools for them so that they can continue their education.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Wahi Pandhi, Johi

http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/06/oic-al-inaction.html

OIC-AL inaction

THIS is apropos of your editorial ‘OIC-AL inaction’ (April 24). An important point has been raised that the unrest in the Arab countries is not as much shocking as is the paralysis of the Arab League and the OIC.
Keeping the Arab League aside, the OIC is the largest organisation of Muslim countries in the world. The OIC was established in 1969 at Rabbat, Morocco. It was with a clear-cut goal of protection of Muslim countries from foreign invasions and the maintenance of unity among them. This was established in reaction to burning of Al Aqsa mosque at the hands of Israel.
Shockingly, since its inception, all the decisions of its 11 meetings have remained unimplemented and not more than rhetoric.
Whether it be the recent rebellious acts across some Arab countries or the past wars between Iraq-Kuwait, Iraq-Iran, or the
Indian aggression against Kashmiris and Israelis’ attacks on Palestinians, the role of the OIC has not been more than a spectator. This was and is the result of the failure of OIC countries to reach a unanimous decision at its meetings.
The drifts among most OIC countries and the feelings of suspicion against one another are the main hindrances in its success.
These drifts are the main cause of inaction on the part of it and lack of moratorium on the continuation of bloodshed in Muslim countries like Syria, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen.
In fact, there is a rule in the world that if an organisation or a country fails to handle a crisis, it appeals to the international community for help, but all such moves are not apparent on the part of the OIC so far.
Oil is the strongest weapon on which the entire world machinery has been running. Despite all these failures, the OIC can implement its decisions. There is just a leadership gap in the OIC that may mediate differences of the Arab and non-Arab Muslim countries and allay their unfounded doubts and fears against one another and carry out its meeting decisions.
It is time the OIC kept aside their differences and saved Muslim countries from further bloodshed and destruction.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Dadu

http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/17/hec-decentralisation-opposed.html

HEC: decentralisation opposed

THIS is apropos of the proposed devolution of the HEC and reaction over it. If one takes a cursory glance over performance of universities before the formation of the HEC, one finds that there was no research culture and there were very few PhDs.

But with the establishment of the HEC in 2002 the educational and research culture in universities was promoted. The HEC organised seminars and lecture programmes to replace archaic methods of teaching.
I remember that when I was a final year student of the Institute of English, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, there was only one PhD and the degree was obtained from abroad. But during that period about seven lecturers of the institute were in Britain on HEC scholarships.
Moreover, the HEC has proved a blessing for improving deteriorating educational standards of Pakistani universities. The number of HEC-produced scholars has been over 3,000 so far. Most of the scholars belong to impoverished families. Had the HEC been part of provincial administrations, as it has been planned now, the scholarships would have been awarded not on the basis of merit and there would have been a mess in our universities.
There is also a digital library connected with all universities. It is also one of the achievements of the HEC. It provides free access to 23,000 international journals and 45,000 textbooks from 220 international publishers.
Our government should let the HEC be independent and free of political intervention. Instead, the government should take measures to improve the deteriorating educational standards at our primary and secondary levels. At these educational levels, there are myriads of problems. For example, obsolete curriculum, shortage of teaching staff, non-availability of computer facility, poor infrastructure, absence of washrooms and drinking water coolers.
Sadly, our country spends less than two per cent of GDP on education against Unesco’s prescribed four per cent. The HEC has been working efficiently and its devolution plan is unjustified on the grounds that the capability of provincial administrations is known to all. If the government opts for to go ahead with the devolution of the HEC, it will sound the death knell for the higher education in Pakistan.
I request the president and the prime minister to stick to the HEC instead of putting it in the incapable hands of the provincial administrations.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Wahi Pandhi, Johi,

Energy Crisis

http://www.dawn.com/2011/04/16/long-hot-summer.html
the Dawn, April 16,2011
Long,hot Summer

THIS is apropos of your editorial ‘Long, hot summer’ (April 9). It has depicted a grim picture of worsening power shortage, which is between 3,500 MW to 5,000 MW.

The fact is that when this democratic government came into power in February 2008, the electricity shortage was much less than it is now. Sadly, despite the passage of three years, no concrete steps have been taken to improve the power sector and facilitate power consumers.
Moreover, during the initial days of the present government, Water and Power Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and his entire team blamed the Musharaf government for the problem.
The minister also assured the nation, time and again, of ending the power crisis by placing deadlines. But when the common man got tired of the false promises, ultimately the federal minister took back his words, declaring that no timeframe could be given to overcome the electricity crisis.
In the face of increasing power cuts, the government has been increasing power tariffs almost every month. It is the history of Pakistan that the poor have always suffered and now they are suffering in both forms: loadshedding and increase in power tariffs.
It is astounding that the government has no short-term solution to meet the power crisis and provide relief to power consumers. However, it is a good thing that the government has long-term planning to meet power crisis, for example Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline that is to materialise in 2015, and Diamer Bhasha Dam which is scheduled to be completed by 2016. But there is a dire need to take measures as short-term solutions along with long-run projects. And it is to be seen whether these future projects complete in time or they would meet the same fate as that of 15
hydropower projects with a capacity of 1258 MW which were scheduled to be completed by June 2007.
Besides, there are three other projects, including the Neelum-Jhelum power project with a gross installed capacity of 1,848 MW, which were scheduled to be commissioned in June 2010. All these were delayed. Just one project of 86 MW (Malakand-III) was completed in eight years against 3226 MW projects.
The impacts of power shortage have been so adverse that over 400,000 industrial workers have lost their jobs and the industries have been facing an annual loss of over Rs240 billion. Besides industries, the agricultural and all other sectors have been among the sufferers.
The government should pay attention to worsening power shortages and take immediate measurers in short-term to meet the power crisis and provide relief to those consumers who pay their power bills honestly.
The government should lay off all corrupt power authorities who are involved in meter tampering, allowing illegal connections after receiving bribes from those who run airconditioners without meters.
The government should remove unnecessary airconditioners from government offices. It should control line losses that are estimated to be around 2000 MW daily.
The smart meter system should be launched which is being used in many developed countries. The government should reduce power tariff till the power outages are stopped.
Work for production of electricity from Thar coal should be initiated without any further delay as electricity production from it would take less than three years duration.
INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI
Wahi Pandhi,
Johi

International Women Day... and Floods in Sindh

http://www.ideasevolved.com/international-women-day-2011/

International Women Day (2011)

Mismanaged Disaster Management in Pakistan
By Inayatullah Rustamani Dadu, Sindh

 

 

 

The recent catastrophic tsunami in Japan has brought extensive loss of lives and property. I salute Japan...

• International Women Day (2011)
  Contributed by Inayatullah Rustamani for the International Women Day held across the world today. IdeasEvolved.com wishes to play her part to...
• Valentine’s Day – Fun Facts
  ~ In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to ...

...as soon as possible.

Contributed by Inayatullah Rustamani for the International Women Day held across the world today. IdeasEvolved.com wishes to play her part to spread the noble message.
The International Women Day is celebrated on March 8 every year across the globe. The Human Rights Activists and NGOs appear to be champions of celebrations of this day. They make pledges to improve socio-economic and educational status of women wherever they are vulnerable. Pakistan is also apart of such celebrations. It is extremely shocking that these pledges in Pakistan appear to jus as rhetoric. The socio-economic and educational conditions of women have been debilitating in the face of high rate of violence against them and the denial of their rights.
Aurat Foundation presented its report titled “The Qualitative Review of Statistics 2009″ on June 30, 2010. The report revealed increase in violence against women in Pakistan. This further states that in 2008, there were 7571 violence cases in Pakistan, but took an upward trend and reached up to 8548 in 2009. This shows 13 per cent increase in violence against women as compared to incidents in 2008.
It is very much shocking that despite availability of women protection laws in Pakistan and some women themselves occupying high political portfolios in Pakistan, there is no reduction in violence and no  protection of poor and middle class women of the country. The staggering  violence figures of Aurat Foundation reveal that  in 2009 there were 5722 violence cases in Punjab, 1762 in Sindh, 655 in KP, 237 in Balochistan and 172 in Islamabad.
The violence against women is high in Punjab because some Chaudhris are patrons of such shameful acts, while in Sindh and Balochistan the landlords are powerful and in politics also and in the meanwhile some are themselves either involved in such acts or protecting the violators. While in the KP, women are victims of the Jirga system and the so-called Taliban.
In the face of so much given powerful elements, the women protection laws almost remain unimplemented or are twisted at the whims of these influential people.  The incumbent government’s Women Protection Law at Work Place; although, carries high punishment and fine for violators, but as the past laws are ineffective thus the results of this may not appear.
Pakistan is a country where women population is 53 per cent. It means that the women constitute bulk of our population. The welfare and protection of women rights is very crucial to improve image of the country within the country and abroad and ensure development of the country. This is possible when women protection laws are strictly implemented and the culprits are punished.
Moreover, the empowerment of women is possible when women are provided education and livelihood opportunities. An equal opportunity based system is in the interest of the country and in true sense will materialize the women
protection rhetoric of the country.

http://www.ideasevolved.com/mismanaged-disaster-management-in-pakistan/

By Inayatullah Rustamani

Dadu, Sindh

The 2010 Floods in Pakistan

The recent catastrophic tsunami in Japan has brought extensive loss of lives and property. I salute Japan for its admirable planning and the way of handling such post-disaster situations. Earthquakes frequently shake that country, but its crisis handling mitigates the aftermath effects and life and development works soon start running smoothly there. But the case is much different in Pakistan. Here, the effects of a disaster remain for years and even for times unmemorable.
The effects of the colossal earthquake of Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir, are still evident. The people have been waiting for rehabilitation there for over five years now.
The wounds of Azad Kashmir earthquake were still fresh when the damaging floods hit Pakistan last year. My district Dadu, Sindh, has also been a prey of the flood. The floods passed over seven months ago but in our area still people are homeless living in tents, the students get education under open sky and the roads have not been repaired so far even though the international community donated billions of dollars to Pakistan to rehabilitate its people.
The effects of a disaster never end here. Disaster in Pakistan simply means the end of the livelihood and lives of the people, but the opening of earning avenues for the NGOs and some self-centered politicians.
The fact is that now the entire world is under the threat of global warming and Pakistan is at the 12th number to be affected by it. Such disasters may; therefor, visit Pakistan with greater continuity in the future.

The October 2005 Pakistan Earthquake

Pakistan should learn management skills from Japan like countries to ensure smooth flow of life and development in the country. The solution lies in planning to cope with such floods. This is possible when the government invests much in the repairing of embankments and dykes and providing the proper passage to water, keeping in mind less loss of agriculture, homes and lives.

Improving Education Sector

http://archives.dawn.com/2008/04/23/letted.htm#7

Improving education sector

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

A recreational Spot

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Letters/03-Jan-2011/Neglected-Gorakh-hill-station

Neglected Gorakh hill station

Daily Nation ,Published: January 3, 2011

The Gorakh hill station is located in taluka Johi, district Dadu, the province of Sindh. It is the coldest and most beautiful area of Sindh. It is around six thousand feet above the sea level. Its temperature is quite moderate and cool even in the months of June and July, when the rest of the country is facing scorching heat. Its road passes along the most developed Kachho city of taluka Johi. But sadly, the development work of the Gorakh Hill Station had started since the first government of the PPP in 1988, and even after passage of more than two decades, successive governments have so far succeeded in only constructing a road from Wahi Pandhi to Gorakh Satation. Moreover, the then government had also pledged to establish a college and a university there.
There is no doubt that this is an attractive tourist spot of Sindh, but deliberate neglect on the part of the consecutive governments has given this hill the look of a deserted spot. It is heartening to know that at last President Zardari has taken a latest briefing from the concerned authorities on the development projects of Gorakh Hill Station. This is at least a ray of hope. Gorakh Hill Station is a natural asset of Sindh. If developed properly, this spot can work wonders for Sindh’s tourism. Gorakh Hill Station.
– INAYATULLAH RUSTAMANI, Dadu, January 1.