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..
Prime Minister is present
THE civil force of a state, which is responsible for the detection & prevention of crime as well as maintaining law and order can be described as police. Its prime duty is to protect people and their property.
Their common duties include patrolling, responding to emergency calls, delivering warrants and arrest criminals who violate the law of the state. For the last few months, Lahore police department has been doing an excellent job.
For first time in the history, to provide relief to the innocent citizens, Prime Minister (Imran Khan) has started listening to complaints of suffering citizens.
A woman from Quetta complained about the occupation of her house in that program. She told that after a 65-year teaching service, her mother bought a single-story house which was occupied by the land mafia. The house was relinquished but the tenant owed her Rs. 5 lakh rupees
Upon her complaint, PM assigned IG Punjab Police the task to take action on her complaint who further gave the orders to CCPO GM Dogar who handled the matter superbly and at last, the lady got her 5 lakhs back.
Recently, the Lahore police took serious action against the rascals and renowned gangsters of the land mafia.
Considered as a symbol of terror, Gogi Butt, Mansha Bomb, Ilyas Gujjar, Faisal Lamba, Liaqat Jhedu, Subhan Jutt and many more accused involved in other crimes were arrested.
Before this, no one ever dared to accept such a challenge. Data against criminals was collected through secret sources and a serious action was taken against them.
In 360 cases, 522 rascals were brought to Justice. 478 latest weapons were recovered from the accused.
The land mafia had made the life of not only decent citizens but also Overseas Pakistanis miserable. A total of 313 seizures were handed over by Lahore police.
Also, Police jailed 617 Occupy Mafia suspects. In all, 3746 Kanal of land worth more than Rs 34 billion was relinquished from the accused.
Taking action against the mafia and thugs has led to a marked reduction in crimes. There was an 18% drop in street crime after the operation.
Thought the police are doing a great job but it is the need of the hour that the police department should be provided with maximum facilities and respect so that our country can again become a happy and prosperous place to live.
M NADEEM BHATTI
Lahore
Another tragedy
Every day we witness or hear about road accidents in the country. However, a large number of people either die or are seriously injured in road accidents every passing day.
According to a news report at least 20 people were killed, while around 50 people including women and children were injured after a speeding passenger coach fell into a deep gorge in Khuzdar district of Balochistan on Friday.
To date, the authorities have been unsuccessful in controlling or even mitigating such accidents resulting in premature deaths.
I urge the authorities concerned to take serious steps to eliminate the cause of such accidents and take those responsible to task; also the authorities concerned should take action against the traffic rules breakers in the country to save the life of the citizens.
MUHAMMAD BAKHTIYAR
Kech Turbat
Pandemic, education, need for investment
During the past 12 months, approximately 42 million school students of pre-primary to higher secondary levels have been directly affected by COVID-19 crisis in Pakistan.
In addition to pre-existing barriers, recent data emerging from Pakistan suggests that girls’ access to formal education is further expected to recede as a result of the steep decline in household incomes.
With many households still struggling with the financial toll experienced during the initial lockdown phase, many girls of school-going age are expected to either enter labour market to supplement their income or simply be withheld from going to school to curtail household expenses.
With this sobering background, Pakistan no longer has the luxury to focus on bringing the massive pre-pandemic figure of 22.8 million out-of-school children into school but must now actively strategize to prevent a roll-back on important gains made vis-à-vis education, especially girls’ access to education in the last decade.
It is important to point-out here that the persistent state of education emergency in Pakistan has a significant fall-out on the country’s ability to develop at a faster pace during relatively “good times” and makes Pakistan’s economy highly vulnerable to economic shocks during times of emergency such as the current pandemic.
A close examination points at the fact that consistently dismal state of education financing in Pakistan – that in turn results in the country’s dismal education indicators – is not necessarily a culmination of a series of crisis situations.
A recent white paper, “Public Invest in Education – COVID-19 & Other Past Emergencies,” establishes that the cuts in education budgets are a routine practice and have little to do with the fall-out of emergency situations.
More importantly, structural issues such as incremental budgeting practices, inability to curtail non-development expenses and an absence of needs/targets-based budgeting need serious redressal to create the much-needed fiscal space for Pakistan’s feeble education sector.
ASIM BASHIR KHAN
Islamabad
Power breakdown in the city
Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to the city’s extremely vital and vexing problems.
Despite paying all taxes and utility bills, the people of Karachi have been experiencing power outage for several months.
Frequent breakdowns have become a source of concern for residents, particularly students as if there is nobody to take care of the citizens.
The authorities have not paid attention or responded positively to the residents of Karachi’s repeated requests.
The situation has now reached an alarming level, which could lead to protests and caustic damage to government buildings
. As a result, the concerned authorities are urged to look into this matter as soon as possible and to take appropriate steps to resolve it.
SHAY NOOR
Karachi
