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.
Dearth of libraries
Turbat and many other towns and localities in Balochistan do not have proper libraries. It’s troublesome for students to find a suitable space for self-study. For those who prepare for tests such as medical test, CSS, PCS etc, it’s impossible to study at home with tranquil atmosphere and stay focused, as there are chances to get disturbed constantly before even covering a single topic. Apart from a peaceful space, libraries provides enough books that contain accurate knowledge and data, while studying online is little risky for students since it consumes a lot of time to find accurate data. Besides, libraries encourage reading culture and self-study, which trains individuals to study independently. In addition, literacy rate is increasing rapidly which is good news. Students have shown interest in studies in educational institutions. Provincial government should provide facilities so that citizen’s interest in education further enhances.
Farah Naz
Turbat, Balochistan
Intolerant society
We are all facing dearth of fundamental capacity of acceptance. We enviously don’t accept each other. We do rather judge than to accept. We judge people by their looks, by their personality, by the way they talk, by the way they act. We judge people by any flaw we can find. We by all means look forward to seeking for an opportunity, one way or another— to judge people. We, as a society are conservative, in behaviour and ideology. We aren’t free and open to receiving acceptance, either. We close ourselves off to other people that are different than we are. Rather than trying to learn with open heart and accept people, we judge them. With the objective of judging others, people derive nothing satisfying but gloom, agony, depression, unsatisfactory in their life.
Usama Mughal.
Kandhkot, Sindh
NUMS test
National University of Medical Science (NUMS) recently conducted an admission test throughout Pakistan. The said institute had set such selection criteria where applicants who had applied for improving or repeating at disadvantage. For improvers or repeaters, NUMS has set an unjust policy for formulation of their aggregate. Forty percent of ultimate aggregate of these applicants has to be determined from marks that applicants had secured in science subjects like physics, chemistry and biology in FSC level. Irony is that total marks of these three subjects in both years of FSc becomes 600 yet NUMS has set policy to figure out percentage of students’ obtained marks in these subjects out of 1100, that are actually total marks in both years of FSc. This unfair policy will lower total aggregate of the applicants, which negatively affect their number in merit list in comparison to fresh applicants but will also make it difficult for them to have minimum acceptable aggregate required for admission into a medical university.
More than half of the candidates that appeared in NUMS test this year are improvers. Last year they appeared in the NUMS test that was full of flaws. This time also they were subjected to unfair policies that may hinder their selection in any intended medical university. Those at the helm, should play their role in removing concerns of affected candidates saving them from stress and depression .
M Ilyas Kalhoro
Larkana, Sindh
Growing population
ON November 15 the earth welcomed its eight billionth member. According to the UN population fund, Pakistan is amongst the countries where population growth remains very high. Many experts have also raised questions how to provide better quality of life to such a large population? So being alive is not an achievement rather it needs lots of efforts. Furthermore Pakistan population growth rate needs to be brought down through proactive family planning activities. Therefore government should organise and run programmes through Lady health workers to effectively communicate the right messages.
Khalida Khalid
Via email
Over pricing at rest areas
Rest areas located at motorway are meant to facilitate travellers, yet they face over pricing of items at shopping marts. While moving from Lahore to Islamabad (M 2), I visited a refreshment franchise, where prices were very high.
Moreover, restaurant owners have fixed prices of local food items and when customers held them accountable for over rating, they behave rudely. Concerned motorway authorities should check this trend immediately.
Mohsin Mumtaz
Chiniot, Punjab
Drug abuse
Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by drugs consumption. According to an UN report number of drug addicts in Pakistan is about 7.6 million, 78% of them are male rest 22% are women. The number of drug addicts is increasing by the rate of 40,000 people per year.
The paramount reason behind majority of consumers is to temporarily fulfil physical desires and to relieve economic burden. The main cause of drug addiction in young age is bad society especially in wedding programmes. In order to get accepted by the society, teens are often involved in consuming e-cigarettes. It’s the responsibility of parents to keep an eye on their children’s peer groups. If parents find their child becoming victim of drug abuse they should try to council their child adequately. Individuals of all age groups should participate in drug abuse awareness programmes. Adults of the family should never be the source of drug abuse inspiration.
Misuse of drug can lead to liver damage, seizures, mental confusion, brain damage as well as hazardous lung disease. People should acknowledge that their health should not be compromised for temporary pleasure. Being healthy is cool, being kind is cool and detoxifying yourself is cool. So take care of yourself, stay cool and healthy.
Umaima Tariq
Karachi
Child abuse
Last 10 years statistics show that there has been 2% rise in crime against minors. There were 106,958 incidents of crimes against minors reported in 2021. There is a high likelihood that the abuser is a family member, and this combined with parents’ lack of communication with their kids and their blind faith in family members, leads to prevalence of child abuse. With 65% of all child abuse cases nationwide, Punjab is on the top. A group operating in Attock was engaged in Internet publishing of recordings of young boys being raped. Okara has been identified as another centre where child abuse has happened on the same magnitude as in Kasur, and it is thought that the two gangs are connected.
Fatima Najum
Via email
