Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Ineffectiveness of portal services pak
I am constrained to draw the kind attention of the Prime Minister towards the poor and unsatisfactory performance of portal service pak created by him to promptly redress the grievances of people and to check the performance of the government entities. I am sorry to say that portal pak is only playing the role of postal service and has miserably failed to come up to the expectations of people and to resolve their difficulties.
Whenever any complaint is sent by any citizen, it is forwarded to the concerned department by the portal. After a few days, the department submits a steroid type reply without furnishing parawise reply to the complaint and that fake reply is just forwarded by the portal to the complainant without ensuring whether the reply is correct and in accordance with the rules and regulations. No one in portal, bothers to look in to the contents of the complaint and the veracity of reply. Resultantly, complaint is disposed off accordingly.
I request the Prime Minister to look into it and make sure that all complaints of people are properly attended and seriously replied by the concerned departments.
Some senior officers having expertise in service rules be posted in portal service.pak who can better understand the whole process and may ensure that replies submitted by concerned agencies are proper and satisfactory or other wise.
I must say portal pak is loosing its credibility due to its ineffectiveness and has become redundant .
Tariq Majeed
Hydersbad.
Imran Khan’s welfare state
During the election campaign, Imran Khan made promises to make Pakistan a welfare state, after coming into power. The welfare state is a system in which the national or the central government provides free social services to its residents/citizens. In these social services comes education and health. A welfare state gives a support allowance/stipend also to those people who, due to any reason, are unable to work such as unemployed, sick and old.
In other words, a welfare state refers to a form of governance in which the central government plays its due role in promoting and protecting the social and economic interests of its citizens. Currently, there are various countries in the world which have been working on the model of the welfare state such as Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherland, Spain, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
There have been seven decades to the independence of Pakistan. During all these years, eight party-based democratically elected governments have ruled the country. But, none of them took serious and practical efforts for getting Pakistan out of the quagmire and the country is in the grip of illiteracy, poor health facilities, unemployment, poverty, etc. It seems that majority of Pakistanis is destined to live with these problems for good.
It is time the State of Pakistan take responsibility for improving the life of all the Pakistanis by freely providing them the facilities of health, education and jobs, besides providing a reasonable fixed monthly allowance to the deserving persons/families.The sooner it is done, the better for the healthier, more literate and more economically contended Pakistan. Since, now, Imran Khan is the prime minister of Pakistan and he has promised to make Pakistan a welfare state (during election campaign), working against different odds, therefore, would be a real challenge for him; keeping in view the half-hearted efforts of the previous rulers, on these fronts.
ABDUL SAMAD SAMO,
Karachi
Health hazards of fast food
Health is wealth. The sale of junk and fast food should be banned completely in schools and colleges, as these food items have no nutritional value in them. They lack vitamins, iron, minerals and dietary fibres. Junk food is also the source of constipation and other sicknesses like diabetes, heart ailments, clogged arteries, heart attacks and strokes.
Regular intake of junk and fast food causes obesity and many other health related problems to children and young adults in the future too. The main cause for the increase in the sale of junk and fast food is its increased availability and misguidance of nutritional value.
Fast food has become popular today because the food is inexpensive, convenient and tastes good. However, fast food is often made with cheaper ingredients such as high fat meat, refined grains, and added sugar and fats, instead of nutritious ingredients such as lean meat, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables. Manufacturers process the raw ingredients, often adding hydrogenated oils, trans fats and monosodium glutamate to enhance taste and prolong the shelf life of the product. A high intake of trans fat can raise low density cholesterol levels and increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.
Food commonly considered as junk foods include salted snack foods, candy, sweet desserts, fried fast food, and sugary carbonated beverages. Not only people consume junk food, but they also consume soft drinks which are an added unhealthy intake.
Teenagers are the heaviest consumers of junk and fast food. They obtain around 25 to 40 percent of their total energy from them. Fast food and vended snacks have become a popular choice for youngsters today who need readily available food when they feel hungry, and food which can be consumed easily and quickly. This increasingly popular fast food and snack items are the main factors which leads to obesity in young people, especially children.
So children must stop eating junk food and eat only what their mother cooks in the kitchen.
JUBEL D’CRUZ,
Via email
Stop wall chalking
Wall chalking is a bad reflection of our culture. wall chalking is an illegal utilization of private property in Pakistan. I can see unethical and disgusting advertisement on walls which are destroying the beauty of city and increasing visual pollution. Now in modern time, people are running their businesses through wall chalking. this is very serious and important issue for citizens of Karachi city.
This unsophisticated act should be banged in order to make our city spotless and more attractive. I want to draw the attention of concerned authorities and request them to blank out of the entire walls of the beautiful city which are chalked as soon as possible because this is our responsibility to make the city clean.
MUHAMMAD HAIDER
Karachi.
Mental degeneration
Now-a-days brain disorders are common, especially in South Asia. Some more common symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases include memory loss, forgetfulness, apathy, anxiety, agitation, a loss of inhibition & mood changes.
Astonishingly, all these symptoms are present in Indian ex-army officer Major General SP Sinha who spewed venom against Kashmiris in a TV interview. Things are being unfolded gradually and Indian idols of democracy are licking dust. His unbecoming remarks have been called “loose missile”. Why Amnesty International is not issuing warnings to India for unleashing terrorism in Kashmir and stupid and hate-filled statements of Indians? Should not Sinha also be tried for inflicting violence and instigating sexual assault against innocent Kashmiris?
He must be sent to mental hospital where brain disorders are treated. One can imagine what are moral standards in India whose top- brass has such inferior mentality
IFTIKHAR MIRZA
Islamabad
Universal Children’s Day
Universal Children’s Day is celebrated on 20th November each year.The purpose is to promote children’s rights and to contribute for their welfare.
But this is very unfortunate to say that we are just limited to the days’ celebrations. It is very ironic that our children have become unsafe. It has become a nightmare for children where they are not supposed to walk freely. We can not raise our child as a brave individual, because this society is not their happy place.
So, on this Children’s Day let’s all pledge together to provide safe, healthy and literary environment to our children and to take care of their mental and emotional health. This society is their home and we have to make them able to take care of their home.
Mamoona Shakoor
Islamabad.
Authorities attitude towards locusts
On Sunday 10 Nov, locust outbreak in different parts of Sindh, causing fear in people, devouring a number of agricultural crops and even interrupting a domestic level cricket match. Though natural disaster like this can’t be avoided but their impact can be minimized by better planning and good disaster management strategies.
But the fact that due to this recent invasion of locust many schools got closed and farmers lost their crops shows the inadequate capabilities of our disaster management departments and concerned authorities.
Sindh agriculture minister in a video message tells public not to fear, but enjoy locust biryani & karahi
Statements like these coming from a minister shows the seriousness of higher authorities who left the farmers on their own.
These poor people and less educated and don’t even know how to raise their voices how to reach media and how to file a complaint on citizen portal.
Government failed to tackle these locusts, they need to find out where are holes in concerned departments and work to fix them to better tackle such situation in the future. Additionally, they must compensate the farmers for their loss.
MUHAMMAD HASSAN AMIN
Islamabad
