08.12.2013

A symbol of hope
The privilege of seeing heart warming Zuljina procession and the communal harmony
By Yaqoob Khan Bangash

I had always wanted to go to a Muharram procession. The sea of black, people wailing, crying, and chanting with passion, and simply the charged nature of the procession has always fascinated me and I had long wanted to go and experience it for myself.

Last time, a friend of mine, a scion of the famous Fakir family, invited me to his ancestral house, Fakir Khana in the old city of Lahore to witness the main Muharram procession which hails from the Nisar Haveli, goes through most of old Lahore, and the Fakir Khana, to Karbala Gamay Shah, near the shrine of the patron saint of Lahore, Data Ganj Bakhsh. Even though I was going to watch the procession from the rather safe confines of the Faqir Khana, I was a little worried about security.
The non-sectarian, and even pan-religious, nature of the appeal of Hussain is also remarkable in bringing together people from different viewpoints.

The rampant attacks on Shias recently have obviously alarmed people. However, I was energised by the strong faith of my Shia friends who seemed undeterred by such attacks. One friend even showed me a message from his mother where she had asked him to be ‘careful’ but did not say that he should not go to the procession. This small incident made me further understand the importance of Ashura today. Just as Imam Hussain was undeterred by the stronger forces of Yazid against him and stood for righteousness, so too are his followers bravely facing the evil forces which are trying to annihilate them. This spirit of sacrifice amidst strong persecution is what kept Hussain going and is what also fuels these processions.

I got to the Fakir Khana just past 1pm and from then onwards there was a long wait for the main procession and the sight of the ‘Zuljina’ the decorated horse which is supposed to represent the horse on which Imam Hussain rode. Interesting here was the communal nature of the event — people were coming in and out of almost every house in the area, men and women were intermingling without much fuss, and children were almost in a festive mood. In an age when community ties are breaking up, even within close knit societies, the feeling that the whole area was just one extended household was heart warming.

I stood on the terrace of the house, together with the family members, a number of random people, for almost four hours waiting for the main procession. The sense of excitement and anticipation was patent as almost everyone was pacing up and down trying see if the procession had moved forward from Mubarak Haveli just up the road.

Finally, with a lot of shouts of ‘Labaik Ya Hussain’ the procession neared the house and the spare horse was brought into the house, to prepare it as the ‘Zuljina.’ Apparently, due to the fact that the procession actually began the night before, and that thousands of people throng to touch the Zuljina, the horse usually gets tired and disoriented, and therefore needs to be changed every now and then. The Faqir Khana being the last significant stop before the end of the procession then becomes the final changeover stop.

It was a great privilege, not only to see the procession but also closely view how the new horse is prepared as the Zuljina with items representing the martyred Imam. Then after veneration, the Zuljina left the Faqir Khana with the almost deafening shouts of mourning and praise for Imam Hussain towards its final stop — Karbala Gamay Shah where the final narration of the battle took place.

In the end one comment by a Shia cleric remained with me. He said: ‘Imam Hussain, is not just a martyr for Muslims, he is there for people from every religion and none, as a symbol of hope for righteousness and resistance against tyranny.’ Surely, it is this intensely personal and human dimension of his martyrdom which makes Hussain such a beacon and makes people attached to his memory. The non-sectarian, and even pan-religious, nature of the appeal of Hussain is also remarkable in bringing together people from different viewpoints. The existence of the so-called Hussaini Hindus — caste Hindus who venerate Hussain — in Lahore is clear evidence of such an appeal.

However, in the recent past we have made Ashura a ‘Shia’ event, Hussain a ‘Shia’ figure, and the procession a target for violent attacks — all this in a country where ‘Muslims’ (not just Sunnis) and others, could remain peacefully. I am sure that if Jinnah, the founder of the country, were alive now, he too would have been attacked — after all he was a ‘Shia’ too.

08.12.2013

Pursuing economic liberation
Privatisation of DISCOs cannot work unless the government undertakes major restructuring of the power sector ...
By Fahd Ali

Privatisation of DISCOs cannot work unless the government undertakes major restructuring of the power sector and offer lucrative contracts to the private owners. But before discussing that, let us consider our experience with pursuing economic liberalisation in the energy sector.

Power sector was liberalised in Pakistan in 1994. This is not necessarily an instance of privatisation but rather of liberalisation i.e. the state opened up a sector to private investors that had been hitherto under state control. Analysts (including myself) have traced the current crisis of the circular debt to the liberalisation of the sector in mid-1990s. What is more important is to understand how this liberalisation was carried out. Sure, the policy addressed the power shortages at that time but the investors were lured in ultimately by offering them extremely lucrative contracts that made investments virtually risk free. As usual, like in the rest of the developing world, all of this was done under the able guidance of various international financial institutions.
Evidence from other countries tells us that Pakistan is not unique in its experience. Privatisation from Russia to Latin America has not necessarily resulted in welfare gains. It has made some people rich and powerful beyond belief.

The power contracts divided the payments made to the private power producers into capacity and energy payments. The capacity payments were binding and included not just fixed operation and maintenance costs and debt repayments but also the return on equity. This coupled with other generous clauses made the investments virtually risk free. Of course, I do not need to mention the stories of corruption and cronyism that were highlighted not only during the implementation phase of the policy but afterwards as well.

This method of ensuring returns written into contracts when the government liberalises a sector is not limited just to the power sector. In fact, within energy sector we see that this was repeated again in the compressed natural gas (CNG) sector. What was ultimately revealed in the Supreme Court’s (SC) hearings on the issue of levying a development cess on CNG was how lucrative a deal pump station owners were enjoying due to the pricing formula agreed between the private owners of the stations and the state.

The point of highlighting these two examples of liberalisation policies is two folds. First, it is important to learn that private sector’s involvement is only ensured by promising returns to their investments through contracts. This takes out any role for the market mechanisms to work that advisers from various IFIs and economists of their ilk champion on our airwaves. Second, and more importantly such contracts then ultimately become vehicles of transferring wealth/resources from the public sector to the private sector on continuous basis. This author particularly sees the manifestation of this aspect in the circular debt crisis in the power sector.

Analysts who still support privatisation point out some other problems to justify the need for transferring SOEs from the public to private ownership. For example, another frequently cited problem is that these SOEs become employment bureaus for political parties in power and then used as vehicles to distribute patronage. Hence any success in turning around SOEs by a government will always have the risk of being ruined if a different party comes to power in the next election cycle. This is indeed a fair argument and a justified fear.

However, what needs to be noted here is that the problem is not whether the SOEs can be turned around under public ownership. The fear is that this success cannot be sustained. This is why various experts suggest that after turning around an SOE, it should be sold off to private investors. The problem then is that under present (institutional) arrangement, it is easy to convert SOEs into employment bureaus. Once this is recognised then the challenge is to come up with an institutional and constitutional arrangement that limits the powers of the incumbent governments to use SOEs as employment bureaus.

This will not be an easy task and will take considerable amount of time to accomplish this goal. But there is a strong chance that an arrangement arrived at this way will be acceptable to various political parties and the public at large.

Finally, a very crucial point needs to be made. Our many IFI-experienced experts, whom one have seen serving in most (if not all) regimes since 1979 do not get tired by pointing out the mess that the state creates when it intervenes in the markets. The state must only provide a strong legal framework and leave the rest to the markets and the private sector, which will come up with the best solutions for our economic woes.

In Pakistan’s context, and if I can use a harsh term, I find this argument to be intellectually dishonest. I find it as such because our experts say this and hide two important facts from us. First, our private sector that is considered to be the champion of efficiency because of its profit motive cannot survive a day without the direct and indirect support from the state. The direct support comes from the subsidies and tax rebates that various sectors enjoy in Pakistan. Tax expenditure is the amount of revenue forgone due to tax holidays, rebates and concessions.

Economic Survey of Pakistan for 2011-12 reports that the tax expenditure for the same fiscal year was Rs185 billion. This was Rs10 billion more than in the previous fiscal year of 2010-11. Some experts have even argued that tax expenditures are highly underreported and its actual level may be as high as Rs500 billion! If fiscal burden is such a huge problem than the first thing that the state needs to plug are the loopholes in our tax codes.

In my opinion, the state also provides support to the private sector indirectly by not preventing tax evasion in the country. For the last several years, it has promised to do this every year. But year after year and regime after regime we see no improvement on this front. One is, therefore, forced to conclude that this happens with the connivance of both the big business and the ruling elite.

A second crucial point that our experts do not highlight is the presence of military businesses or to borrow a term from Ayesha Siddiqa, milibus in the economy. If the state’s role in the economic sphere is unwarranted and it should not concern itself with the production of various goods and services then how do these experts defend the presence of milibus. Milibus is as much state owned as PIA, WAPDA, and Pakistan Railways are. Remember the armed forces are an institution subservient to the state (and the executive). Yet, our experts see no problem in serving army officers sitting on planning and investment committees of various ‘welfare’ trusts. Normally, it is justified on the basis that unlike SOEs, businesses run by the military make profits.

This is a very bad argument if you call yourself an economist. We have seen that economic theory does not take profitability of an SOE as a factor to decide its privatisation. The real purpose is to achieve efficient use of available resources. Profitability and hence profits are accounting outcomes. They are not cast in stone type principles that some economist may believe that they are. A visit to any tax practitioner will reveal how easily balance sheets can be manipulated to show low or high profits.

Further, in the case of state run businesses it is important to understand if the profits accrue if an enterprise enjoys special status in the market. Are the profits guaranteed because of the way markets are structured? Or there are other institutional reasons that favour state run businesses to make profits? These questions must be answered for milibus as well. If there is an economic justification to privatise PIA, PR, DISCOs, etc. then the same logic should also be applied to the businesses run by the army, the air force, and the navy. Why must we protect the rents that accrue to one institution of the state but deny them to the others?

Another argument that justifies milibus is that they are run for the welfare of the retired personnel of the armed forces. Well then why cannot other SOEs be run for the welfare of the rest of the citizenry? Why must we end this massive welfare programme because it has become a fiscal burden yet continue it for only an exclusive set of people?

The truth of the matter is that privatisation and liberalisation in Pakistan have been fraught with nepotism, crony capitalism, graft, and corruption — supposedly the very ills that the process aims to cure. Evidence from other countries tells us that Pakistan is not unique in its experience. Privatisation and liberalisation from Russia to Latin America has not necessarily resulted in efficiency or welfare gains. It has undoubtedly made some people rich and powerful beyond belief.

The cacophony of privatisation in Pakistan is increasingly masqueraded in the fiscal burden argument i.e. how SOEs cannot survive without government’s subsidies. There is absolutely no doubt that much is wrong with the state of Pakistan’s economy and also the state itself.

There is a strong need to address some of the (mis)management issues in the SOEs. However, to present privatisation as the only viable solution can be defended in the last instance only on ideological (and therefore political) grounds. If the battle is ideological and political, then we need to choose sides and brace ourselves for a long battle.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

08.12.2013

Challenges for the new CJP
Besides restoring the “balance” Justice Tassaduq Jillani has spoken about, the real goal should be to make the judicial system capable of delivering justice without delays
By Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq

With the appointment of Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan from December 12, 2013, on the retirement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, there is enthusiasm in official circles that the “era of undue intervention in civil-military administrative affairs and political arena” will come to an end. They hope that Justice Jillani, known as “the gentleman judge” for his mild manner, would maintain focus on rights but “steer clear of intervening in government policy”. They say Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani avoided the high-profile political cases that Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry revelled in.

According to them, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as Chief Justice of Pakistan would prefer “judicial vigilance” over “judicial populism”. “If the courts fail to maintain this delicate balance, none else but people’s confidence in the judiciary would be the worst victim”, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani observed in a recent ruling.

While the controversies and debates over the role and legacy of outgoing Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would continue, it is the time that new chief justice starts some fundamental reforms in the existing judicial system — and Justice’, The News, October 27, 2013.

Our judicial structure, dating back to the British colonial era, has not changed except patchwork of so-called Islamic laws and establishment of Federal Shariat Court by General Ziaul Haq. Two conflicting legal systems have given undue advantage to the police alone for self-aggrandizement rather than serving any useful purpose for dispensation of justice in the real sense of the word. The maxim ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ most aptly describes the essence of our judicial system which desperately needs reforms at all levels.

On August 14, 1947, we inherited a strong and independent judiciary having unquestionable reputation of competence and integrity. Mian Abdul Rashid, the first chief justice of Pakistan, was a man of unimpeachable character, who restrained from attending government gatherings and public functions. His successor, Justice Muhammad Munir, for his judgements in Maulvi Tamizuddin case [PLD 1955 Federal Court 240] and few others did become controversial, though his critics seldom realise that it was actually the failure of the political elite that paved the way for recurrent unconstitutional rules for which judiciary could not alone be blamed. One cannot, however, forget some of his great successors like Justice Shahabuddin and Justice A.R. Cornelius, who demonstrated high standards of judicial conduct even in the earlier tumultuous years of our political history.

In the post-independence years, the dilemma of our judiciary remained perpetual failure of political leadership as it was approached many a times to determine the validity or otherwise of capturing state power by men in uniform. In The State v Dosso [PLD 1958 SC 533], Chief Justice Muhammad Munir called it a “successful revolution”, but Justice Hamoodur Rehman in Asma Jillani v Government of Punjab [PLD 1972 Sc 139] called it “usurpation” of people’s rights. In Begum Nusrat Bhutto v Chief of Army Staff [PLD 1977 SC 657] came yet another endorsement of the doctrine of necessity wherein “intervention” was declared lawful “in the best and larger interest of the nation. General Musharraf not only got three years but also the right to amend the Constitution! However, defiance and an emphatic ‘NO’ by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to same Musharraf changed the entire judicial landscape.

For judiciary, November 3, 2007 was the beginning of a new era. A dictator imposed judiciary-specific martial law — this time the victims were not politicians but the judges. For the first time, it was issue of survival for those who always sided with men in uniform against politicians. The effectiveness of people’s street power that reigned from March 9, 2007 to July 20, 2007, from November 3, 2007 to March 16, 2009 — culminated in the second restitution of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the Chief Justice of Pakistan on March 22, 2009.

As March 16, 2009 brought “justice” for Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Supreme Court as an institution conveyed a change of mind in its decision of July 31, 2009 as under:

“Before parting with the judgment, we would like to reiterate that to defend, protect and uphold the Constitution is the sacred function of the Supreme Court. The Constitution in its preamble, inter alia, mandates that there shall be democratic governance in the country, wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice as enunciated by Islam shall be fully observed; wherein the independence of judiciary shall be fully secured. While rendering this judgment, these abiding values have weighed with us. We are sanguine that the current democratic dispensation comprising of the President, Prime Minister and the Parliament shall equally uphold these values and the mandate of their oaths”.

The above judgement highlighted the real dilemma faced by Pakistan since its existence — a daunting challenge of establishing true democratic polity based on constitutional supremacy, rule of law and equity. The long military rules — backed by foreign masters — and in between experiments of “controlled democracy” denied the people of Pakistan their sovereign right to self-governance, for which a long struggle was waged to secure independence from the British raj. The dictatorial rules stifled all the state organs — especially judiciary that became an approving arm for many unconstitutional rules.

Supreme Court, after restitution of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, started taking up many cases, some using suo muto powers, causing panic in many circles. Political polarisation diluted valiant common struggle waged by all segments of society, most notably by lawyers, media, social and political activists, for restoration of an independent judiciary. The PPP government alleged that apex court was transgressing its constitutionally-defined limits. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said that if people were not getting their rights, the judiciary was bound to be proactive.

It is an undeniable fact that in the post-March 16, 2009 scenario, the judiciary under Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry failed to deliver to the people as no reform agenda was implemented to remove snags in the dispensation of justice. The justice system remained hopelessly redundant, painfully unproductive and marred with inefficiency and inordinate delays. Since March 2009, apex court is in conflict with all other state institutions.

There will be a great challenge before Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan—his will retire on July 6, 2014—to restore the “balance” he has openly spoken about. The real goal should be to make the judicial system capable of delivering justice without delays and heavy costs to litigants.

No doubt the apex court and higher courts are constitutionally obliged to curtail arbitrary exercise of powers by any organ of the state as their main role is protection of fundamental rights of citizens under all circumstances. It should remain their first and foremost duty. While maintaining the supremacy of Constitution, a sanctimonious document representing and expressing the supreme will of the people, the court should also ensure quick disposal of conflicts pending with them.

Tragically, our courts are still following the outdated procedures and methods whereas many countries have adopted e-system for filing of cases and their quick disposal through fast-track follow up using the offices of magistrates at grassroots levels. The main aim of judicial reforms should be elimination of unnecessary litigation and facilitating smooth running of affairs between the state and its citizens. Once both learn to act within the four corners of law, there would be no need for enormous litigation. It is shameful that presently the government is the main litigant. It usurps the rights of people and then drags the poor citizens in courts.

First of all, the apex court under new chief justice should establish a commission to determine the reasons for this morbid state of affairs. The principles underlying reforms should not mean forcing unnecessary litigation and then its quick disposal but to help reduce its occurrence in the first instance.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

08.12.2013

Inhuman development
Policymakers need to focus on key sectors such as health, education and poverty to improve human rights
By Waqar Gillani

United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report 2013 has rated Pakistan among the countries with the lowest maturity in respecting and protecting the rights of its people. The report, launched recently, places Pakistan at 146 out of 186 countries measured using the Human Development Index (HDI). Pakistan joined this global club of countries since the day of its creation – August 14, 1947.

The living conditions of the average Pakistani is still below the poverty line and he is neither aware of his rights neither his rights are safeguarded by the respective sides. The report “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World” points out very low improvement in human development. Earlier, the HDI of Pakistan rose during 2000 to 2007 during General Pervez Musharraf’s regime with the annual average of 2.7 per cent.
“The writ of the state is week and justice system is not working efficiently. Affirmative action is not seen, for example, in ensuring the rights of labourers,” says I.A. Rehman

United Nations International Human Rights Day is observed every December 10 across the world. The celebration commemorates the day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Declaration with its broad range of political, civil, social, cultural and economic rights, however, is not a binding document, but it has inspired more than 60 instruments which together constitute an international standard of human rights. The UN General Assembly announced Human Rights Day in 1950, to bring to the attention ‘of the peoples of the world’ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. In 2013, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights marks 20 years since its establishment. The theme of this year’s celebration is reviewing the progress of human rights in these two decades.

Pakistan, according to the UNCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), has ratified or signed 27 treaties, declarations, and conventions adopted by United Nations from time to time.

In Pakistan, according to UN standards, there is no district with high human development index. The HDI report findings are an eye-opener for policymakers that need to focus on key sectors such as health, education and poverty in order to move towards development.

Pakistan’s expenditure on social sectors is considered lower even than some of the poorest African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, which spends 1.2 per cent of GDP on health and 6.2 per cent on education. Pakistan spent 0.8 per cent on health and 1.8 per cent on education. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka also spend higher amounts on both sectors. In fact, Pakistan is one of only four countries in the region that are ranked in the low HDI group, alongside Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Nepal.

The report says that 49 per cent of Pakistan’s population lives in poverty. Last year, Pakistan was on 145th position and now it has further slipped. Experts say the country needs to pursue continuity of policies and take difficult political decisions to move towards development and sustainable economic growth.

“There are many positive and negative aspects of the growth and development of human rights in Pakistan in the past two decades,” observed I.A. Rehman, secretary general Human rights Commission of Pakistan, while giving a brief review of this period. He said the good thing is ratification and signing of these conventions and declarations including on torture, women rights, child rights and now Pakistan would have to submit its reports on these violations and development in these areas regularly. “Pakistan has entered a process this way. Civil society has contributed to this struggle a lot,” he says.

Pointing out the negative things, he says, the main issue is that the forms of the violations of human rights have not changed so far in these 20 years. Implementation is very slow. There is big gap between acknowledging and implementing these rights. He said the abuses of human rights are of different types and legislation is not appropriately addressing these issues. “The writ of the state is week; justice system is not working efficiently because of many factors. Affirmative action is not seen, for example, in ensuring the rights of labourers.”

He said Pakistan ratifies treaties and conventions but does not fulfill the implementation requirement and related conditions in letter and spirit. “We have to put in more efforts,” said Rehman. “Especially, when the country is facing civil war and the militancy is on the rise, rights are further suppressed in the name of security.” He says we need to improve the human rights standards.

Very recently, a United Kingdom based risk analysis Company Maplecroft, in its Human Rights Risk Atlas (HRRA), has analysed that since 2008, the number of countries posing an extreme risk to the human rights of their populations has risen from 20 to 34 –a 70 per cent rise. Among the top 10 extreme risk countries, Syria is on the top.

Pakistan, sadly, stands fourth in this list and even Afghanistan is better than it. The report says in Asia, the highest risk countries include Pakistan (4th), Afghanistan (6th), Myanmar (8th), Bangladesh (17th) and India (18th). The analysis further points out that workers’ protections continued to deteriorate in low-cost sourcing countries, particularly in Asia.

“Yes, there are many points which indicate low development in human rights in the country during the past 20 years. However, in my view, like many other countries, the record of Pakistan in this subject is also mixed,” views Javed Jabbar, intellectual, activist and former federal minister for information. “There is some improvement. This field, in fact, is very vast so it is not easy to be judgmental due to various factors.” He says Pakistan is having a historic background with the inherited colonial system and legacy of the rulers and emperors in the Subcontinent. There was no concept of a state and human rights system at that time. Also, the UNHR Declaration was adopted even after the creation of Pakistan (in 1948).

Also, Jabbar says, “we have to think that the UNHR Declaration is a statement of ideal objective. And even in the United States the rights of African-Americans were recognized in 1960, long after this declaration. In the strongest democracies like the US and India, still there are violations of human rights at various levels. He says ideal comparison is not possible in any country.”

“Like many other countries, there are gaps in implementation as well. There are differences between theory and practice; real and ideal,” he says, adding, “Though Pakistan’s ranking is low, I think it will continue to be improve because of various factors including media freedom, judicial activism and the increasing interest of parliamentarians to improve legislation.”

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

08.12.2013

Weathering food insecurity
Rising prices of rice warrant immediate action to counter the negative impact of climate change
By Haroon Akram Gill

Climate change is badly affecting food crops in Pakistan, triggering fears of food insecurity. Rice, one of the main food crops of Pakistan, has encountered severe climate crisis in the form of unexpected flooding and pest attack. Severe flooding in areas famous for quality rice production i.e. Narowal, Kamoke, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Narang Mandi has badly affected the rice crop.

According to officials of Agriculture Extension Punjab, rice crop on 548,000 acres had been affected by the flooding, out of which 192,000 acres faced a total calamity and the farmers had been compensated by the government. They claim that overall rice production has been increased from what we had last year but they also admit that in case of Basmati rice the production has been reduced remarkably as yield has gone down to 21 maunds per acre as compared to 22 maunds per acre last year and the reason behind is climate crisis.
At this critical time, the government has imposed heavy cuts over the budgets of the Ministry of Climate Change and it has been reduced to a division working under the Cabinet Ministry.

Flooding ruined a large area and post-flooding effects added further to the crisis. Water ponds after floods combined with the hot weather provided ideal atmosphere for pests to grow, cutting the produce of the crops.

An increase of almost 35 per cent in rice prices has been observed compared to the previous year as it was Rs1600 to 1800 per 40-kg for raw crop and this year it started form Rs2250 per 40-kg and went to as maximum as Rs2800 for the same quantity. Finished product is available for Rs 120/kg in the market whereas it was Rs 80/kg last year.

Muhammad Anas, a rice grower from Gujranwala, says that this year prices have inflated mainly because of crops loss due to extreme weather, heavy rainfall and floods. “This year, we have encountered a viral disease called “Leaf Blast” and a climate disease called “Leaf curl” along with the Hopper attack as flood consequences,” he lamented. He also blamed the Agriculture Department for not responding to the problem adequately. “Besides high prices of DAP, shortage of electricity and gas have also played their role in reduced production and increased prices,” Anas adds.

Hamid Mallhi, Chairman Rice Growers Association, reveals there is a 30 per cent cut in Basmati rice production due to floods and pest attack in Punjab. Situation in Sindh and other areas is better. “As far as price is concerned, Super Basmati rice is an export commodity and its price is directly linked with demand of international market. Boost in dollar rate means boost in local price as well,” he adds.

The damage could have been minimised by proper planning and use of the fuse areas and detention basin. But it has been observed that the fuse areas or detention basin on Ravi banks and the water ways are no more in working condition as they have been encroached upon due to increasing urbanisation.

Lack of planning to counter disasters has resulted in severe food insecurity and poverty. National Disaster Management plans do not include these damaged areas though the senior officials of Climate Change Division are of the view that Disaster Management Authorities are responsible for taking practical steps to deal with the crisis.

“Climate change is there and it is evident now. Farmers are reluctant to adapt to it which is resulting in low yields and crops losses. We are providing the guidelines while the authorities on provincial level are responsible for implementation,” says Raja Hassan Abbas, Additional Secretary Climate Change Division. “Ground activity regarding risk reduction is the liability of NDMA and PDMAs.”

Punjab Provincial Disaster Risk Management authorities are of the view that they can only provide the data of the damages and concerned departments are responsible to take the precautionary measures.

Experts are of the view that Pakistan needs immediate and comprehensive action to counter the negative impact of climate change on our crop production and food security as research has confirmed that not only rice but overall production is on decline due to changing weather patterns and frequent occurrence of extreme weather events.

At this critical time when we are having the severe damages due to climate change, the government has imposed heavy cuts over the budgets of the Ministry of Climate Change and it has been reduced to a division working under the Cabinet Ministry. It needs a strong political will as well to understand the severity of the crisis as total damages due to climate crisis have reached 5.42 per cent of the GDP which is inevitable and calls for immediate action.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

15.12.2013

Fearing local power
Election on January 30 to more than 52,000 seats of councillors and mayors may unleash its own dynamics, much beyond the intended control of the rulers
By Adnan Adil

The Election Commission of Pakistan has finally put its foot down and fixed January 30, 2014 for holding the local body elections in Punjab. The Commission has already issued the election schedule.

Still, the provincial government is busy in litigation and has moved the Supreme Court with a plea for holding the local elections on non-party basis — seeking the reversal of the verdict given by the Lahore High Court on this issue.

The PML-N’s reluctance in holding the local body elections is for the simple reason that the ruling party’s bigwigs do not wish to share the spoils of power with the elected people at the local level. Under the devolved local government system, introduced by Gen Pervez Musharraf between 2002 and 2008, the Punjab government used to provide Rs130 billion annually to the local governments for their expenditures. During Shahbaz Sharif’s rule (2008-2013), these funds were drastically slashed to Rs30 billion annually. Sharif himself spent the remaining funds of more than Rs400 billion mostly on his discretion.
Holding of the local elections on non-party basis suits the PML-N because the party holds power in the province and will be in a position to lure or force the independently-elected councillors to join the ruling party.

Following the May 12 general election, the Punjab government has given three different dates for holding the local body elections. First, it announced to hold the elections in October, then agreed to the date of November 27 when the Supreme Court insisted on a timeframe, later it again asked for postponement till December 7 — but again backed out.

The last local body elections were held in Punjab in 2005 and were due to be held soon after the completion of the tenure in December 2009. But the government ran the municipal bodies through pliant civil servants during this period.

The much-touted Charter of Democracy binds the PML-N to hold the local body elections on party-basis, but the newly-enforced Local Government Act of Punjab 2013, passed on August 22, 2013 made it mandatory that these elections would be held on non-party basis. On November 7, the Lahore High Court struck down this clause and ordered to hold the polls on party-basis.

At the time of verdict, Punjab’s Senior Minister Rana Sanaullah announced that the government would not challenge this verdict, but almost a month later the provincial government went into appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court, where the case is now pending. Now, Rana Sanaullah says party-based local elections are not manageable.

The PML-N’s fear of the party-based elections stem from the fact that unprecedented price-hike of essential commodities during the last six months and ongoing loadshedding of natural gas for CNG stations and factories seem to have made the incumbent government quite unpopular — thus casting shadows on its prospects in the local polls. In order to please the voters, the federal government has now hastily announced a new Rs100 billion loan scheme for the unemployed youth despite the fact the kitty is empty and the circular debt of the power sector has again ballooned up to Rs200 billion.

Holding of the local elections on non-party basis suits the PML-N because the party holds power in the province and will be in a position to lure or force the independently-elected councillors to join the ruling party. The new law has made the municipal authorities entirely dependent on the provincial government. Under the law, the MPAs will have representation in the local bodies for the use of development funds, thus further eroding the authority of the elected local representatives and paving the way for the ruling party’s interference in municipal affairs. The subjects of education and health have also been taken out of the purview of local governments and given to separate authorities to be run by the people appointed by the provincial government.

The PML-N is sensitive about keeping the local bodies in its clutches as it is familiar with their significance since the mid-1980s — when the party took birth from the assemblies elected on non-party basis. The PML-N, which was not a popular party at the mass level at that time, is alleged to have massively rigged the 1991 local bodies elections in Punjab and ruthlessly misused the local body funds to organise its functions and extend patronage to its local leaders.

Following the dismissal of the PML-N government in 1993, the PPP-PML-J coalition government had launched several inquiries into embezzlement of the local funds during the previous regime, but these were hushed up for political reasons afterwards.

The existing political environment is quite different from the one in the early 1990s when the PML-N was the blue-eyed party of the powerful President Ghulam Ishaq Khan as well as the military establishment. At that time, media was not as free as today and electronic media was under government’s control. Now the dynamics have changed. It won’t be easy for the PML-N to carry out massive rigging in the local body elections without inviting huge protest or even an agitation. So the utmost effort is being made to hold elections on non-party basis with no regard to their negative implications.

The local elections held on non-party basis, as in the past, are likely to sharpen ethnic and sectarian divisions within the society and politics. In the absence of mobilisation on political basis, affiliations and allegiances towards clans (biradaris) and religious sects grow stronger as witnessed in the 1985 non-party general election and the six local body elections held in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 2002 and 2005. Each of these elections led to marginalisation of ethnic and religious minorities, and resultantly their virtual exclusion from decision-making.

What the country needs today is mobilisation of people on public issues such as efficient system of dispute-resolution at the local level (lower judiciary), service-delivery (provision of clean drinking water, healthcare sanitation, education etc) and overall good governance. These objectives can be achieved through contest between political parties with clear-cut programmes as it involves the participation of provincial governments, too. Election held on non-party basis will thwart these goals and further lead to fissures in the society.

The PML-N has already divided the unit of a union council into six small wards reverting to the 1979s local body system of Gen Ziaul Haq. The wards’ system has been created with a mala fide intent as the provincial government can influence an election at the ward level through the use of local administration, especially the police. This strategy was employed by Gen Ayub Khan in the 1960s and later by Gen Ziaul Haq in the 1970s and 1980s, but led to increased local rivalries for the leadership and rise in the crime rate. In 2001, the system was reformed by introducing multiple-constituency system in the form of a union council.

Unfortunately, like the past governments, the PML-N in Punjab is viewing the local government elections as a tool for creating its patronage system and local satraps who could serve the bosses at the top. Monopolising power and control over state resources seems to be the main concern of the rulers instead of solving people’s problems at the local level. Yet, election on January 30 to more than 52,000 seats of councillors and mayors may unleash its own dynamics, much beyond the intended control of the rulers.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

15.12.2013

Deliberations on Pakistan
A conference that successfully foregrounded the challenges facing Pakistan
By Tahir Kamran

Shaun Gregory is a founder-director of the Pakistan Security Research Unit (PSRU). The Unit has moved to the School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham from the University of Bradford where the Unit was conceived and became functional in 2007.

Under the auspices of PSRU, almost 40 briefs, addressing various aspects of Pakistani state and society, have been published. These are an exceedingly valuable source for anybody considering carrying out research on Pakistan. Thus, seeing the ascendant profile of PSRU, one can only remark that one University’s loss is another’s gain. To announce the relocation of Shaun as well as PSRU, a conference was held on Dec 4 and 5 on the broader theme of ‘Democratic Transition and Security in Pakistan’.

That event was significant primarily because in all the major universities of the UK, South Asian Studies is deemed, to the chagrin of many, conflated with Indian Studies. Therefore, an event with Pakistan as its principal theme came as a fresh waft of an air in an otherwise India-heavy academic ambience. The conference spoke volumes of Shaun Gregory’s organising skills. It also showcased the extent of his influence among policy-makers and the goodwill towards him among academics in the UK and beyond. All this was reflected clearly in the unique audience to be found at Saint Mary’s College, University of Durham. Officials from the UK Foreign Office, High Commissions of Pakistan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and scores of NATO operatives had travelled from various parts of Europe to attend. Conspicuous among the presenters were Ian Talbot, Iftikhar Malik, Yunas Samad, Mathew Nelson, Farzana Shaikh, Mathew Mccartney, Ayesha Siddiqa, Anatol Lieven and Victoria Schofield.

Prof. Ian Talbot’s keynote address marked the commencement of the event. His was a scholarly discourse on Democratic Transition in Pakistan, a theme which he deftly situated in its historical context, stressing the asymmetric relationship between the civil and the military. Now that one civilian rule has given way to another for the first time in Pakistan’s history, whether ‘rebalancing’ of the civil-military relationship would be possible or the past practice will continue to prevail, is a question worth asking. Prof. Talbot did not seem very optimistic on the likelihood of such transition despite Nawaz Sharif’s decisive victory in the elections.

As a keynote speaker, he was supposed to set the context of the over arching theme of the conference, which he did admirably well.

Dr Ayesha Siddiqa’s presentation in which she underscored the role of religion in Pakistan’s modernising society was perceptive and interesting. She argued that the modern Muslims in Pakistan had opted to wean themselves away from ‘the pluralist religious framework’ to the more monolithic and singular concept of God and religion. Thus the Islamic tradition being synthesised with modernity enmeshed with the Sufi ethos has given rise to what Ayesha Siddiqa calls the dispensation of ‘hybrid theocracy’.

The national discourse of Pakistani state, though considerably fractured as it seems, is undoubted immersed in the hybrid theocratic mode. Siddiqa unravelled the contradiction besetting the very essence of Pakistani nation-state.

The same ideological hybridity was the underlying theme of Farzana Shaikh’s presentation, which was an intellectually nuanced and theoretically well-woven account, shedding light on the troubled engagement between ‘Sufism and the Modernist State in Pakistan’. She argued that ‘the modernist aspirations of the state have stood in opposition to, rather than in harmony with, the prevailing traditions of local or popular Sufism’. She emphasized that the modernist outlook subscribed to the assumption that Sufism, which presupposed the guidance of a living saint to ‘ensure proximity to God’, was antithetical to the ‘modern’ Muslim mentality resting on the notion of the “rational” Muslim with the power directly to apprehend God’s Law.’

The legacy of the ‘founding fathers’, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Allama Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah resonates quite remarkably with this modernist version of the state. However, the power and the political influence of the Sufis are so pervasive that the state, despite its modernist structure of governance and outlook, has to take them into cognizance as indispensable power brokers. The faultlines in the national discourse were identified in an excellent presentation, a testament to Farzana Shaikh’s profound scholarship.

Matthew Nelson’s paper ‘Islamic Law and Democratic Politics in Pakistan: A Law-and-Order Perspective’ generated interesting responses. The seminal argument of Nelson’s presentation centred on the dialectical relationship between the ‘created statutory Shariah’ and the ‘fixed’ Shariah. The created version of Shariah can be defined and refined via legislature whereas the fixed is not amenable to any redefinition. Shariah (fixed) can only be enforced by the state. Since those espousing the fixed Shariah are marginalised, they turn to violence to press their point.

To elucidate his point, he referred to Jhang and Swat. Demographic, social and political differences in the two districts are so stark that it seems virtually impossible for any scholar to study them with reference to each other. But like Ayesha Siddiqa and Farzana Shaikh, Nelson too underlined the fissures and faultlines that both Pakistani state and society are forced to grapple with.

Acclaimed scholar on Pakistan and the author of In the Shadow of Shariah, Nelson is meticulous in his scholarship. With all his experience and brilliance, he managed to play around quite skilfully with the disjointed strands of his presentation. He was badgered nevertheless. The nexus between the land mafias and the political parties was the horrific aspect of Pakistani political landscape that Matthew Nelson brought into focus. That trend if exists needs further research.

All in all, the conference was extremely fruitful in foregrounding the challenges that Pakistan is facing but the point worth stressing is that the event was concluded at an optimistic note largely because of the successful transition from one democratic regime to another. On the success of that event, Shaun Gregory and his colleagues ought to be congratulated.
Democratic Transition and Security in Pakistan Democratic Transition in Pakistan Matthew Nelson Pakistan Security Research Unit past recast Political Economy Prof. Ian Talbot PSRU PSRU conference Shariah Shaun Gregory 2013-12-15
Tahir Kamran

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

15.12.2013

Private vs public interests
There are valid concerns that plans to push tablets into the schools serve the interests of the tech corporations a lot more than the hapless children
By Irfan Muzaffar

The only reason for existence of public policies is to provide necessary public services to the public in the best possible manner. To provide public services, the governments frequently engage the providers of goods and services in the private sector. There is nothing wrong with it as long as the private interests of the providers are not allowed to trump the public interest. Usually the private providers have an incentive to simply sell their product. But the governments must do everything to get the best out of the private sector while also protecting the public interest.

This is where public debate on policy ideas becomes important as it can help the governments refine and improve its ideas before they are adopted as policies.
Considering the dismal state of physical infrastructure of the schools in Punjab, it is fair to ask as to why the millions planned to being spent on buying the tablets are not allocated to improving the dismal condition of the schools.

The case of impending distribution of tablets, now called smart school systems, in Punjab is one such situation. In an earlier article, I had expressed some concerns about the Punjab government’s plans to distribute android tablets to all children. There is no evidence, I argued, that tablets increase learning gains. They are also not a cost effective replacement of the textbooks. Children can easily damage them. However, unlike the inexpensive paperback textbooks their repair or replacement can be very expensive. There is a risk, therefore, that children would be left worse off after they were given the tablets than they are now with the bag full of textbooks.

Considering the dismal state of physical infrastructure of the schools in Punjab, it is fair to ask as to why the millions planned to being spent on buying the tablets are not allocated to improving the dismal condition of the schools. Imagine schools that need clean drinking water and electricity being given android tablets instead. But this is not the only problem. It goes without saying that when tablets begin to damage and crash, poor teachers and headmasters will be scapegoated for showing lack of responsibility and not taking care of these ‘public assets’. After all, who will be made responsible for ensuring that children keep their tablets in good order, if not teachers?

When one looks at stories of the use of tablets in schools from other countries the picture that emerges is anything but pretty. There is plenty of evidence out there of the tablet deals resulting in enormous wastage of public funds and the only entity to benefit from these schemes has been the private manufacturers and providers of tablets. As one of the journalists investigating the one-to-one tablet programmes in American schools puts it, “The devil is in the details, and tablet programme details are proving to be very devilish indeed”.

A certain county in the state of North Carolina decided to get 20,000 tablets for some 73,000 students. However, the tablet programme was put on a pause soon after it started — some 10 per cent of all the tablets were broken by children no sooner than they landed in the schools. Battery of one tablet overheated and melted amplifying the concerns about the safety of their use in schools. The programme was suspended and tablets pulled out from the schools. A similar program in Texas has also run into snags.

In Los Angeles, the attempts of the LAUSD school superintendent — counter part of our EDOs — to provide iPads to all students are met with fierce resistance from the critics. Strong objections are being raised in the media and by concerned public commentators on education on these plans. The critics are concerned as to why LAUSD is buying such expensive tablets when the district is unable to pay salaries to its teachers and is forced to cut several other educational programmes.

A prominent historian of education Diane Ravitch wrote about the iPad scheme on her blog in these words: “Some corporations will make a lot of money, especially Apple and Pearson. And meanwhile, many Los Angeles students will be in overcrowded classrooms and will not get any arts programmes because of budget cuts…No one has explained where the money will come from to pay for the next round of iPads in three or four years.”

To cut the long story short, there are valid concerns that plans to push tablets into the schools serve the interests of the tech corporations a lot more than the hapless children. In the absence of evidence of educational effectiveness of tablets, it is arguably only the interest of corporations that is masquerading as interest of the schools and learners in the justifications offered in favour of the plan.

Pakistan should learn from these experiences before launching similar programmes. The onus is on the government of Punjab to convince the public that its plans to give every child a tablet will enhance the quality of education? The government should make a strong evidence based case that getting tablets in the hands of children will benefit learning outcomes in a sustained manner. Public should also know where the money will come from. It may not be a good idea to spend the money kept earlier for the upkeep and maintenance or upgrading of schools to buy tablets?

I would like to believe in the sincerity of the government of Punjab’s attempts to fix education. But it would do well to immediately commission ex ante analyses of these plans for the “smart school system”. Government should not let the big corporations rush it into buying the tablets.

The way to go is a carefully phased and stepped process of improving the whole school. The standards of provisions for the schools need to be clearly established if this has not already been done. The priorities need to be drawn and financially viable plans put in place for the whole school improvement of all schools. The way to go is not tablet for each child but a high quality school for each child. An alternative to giving each child a tablet can be to provide each teacher with a tablet. Such tablets could come loaded with lesson plans and other ideas. They could also be loaded with video lessons from such entities as Khan Academy to help teachers make up for their subject knowledge deficiencies.

I remember Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif mentioning Danish Schools in one of his election speeches. He said that once in government, his party would make a Danish School available to each child. Danish Schools were also criticised for being expensive and ultimately unsustainable. But no one faulted them for their ability to provide a healthy learning environment to the students.

It may not be possible to make good on the election promise of providing Danish School to each child in Pakistan. However, the government could at least try to improve the plight of existing schools instead of starting a controversial scheme that could potentially leave the schools in the same situation while further deepening the pockets of some tech corporations.

There are always multiple policy ideas out there looking for an opportunity window and not all of them are viable. Policy entrepreneurs, who are usually individuals and groups with a single idea to sell, are always waiting for the opportunity window to open. The opportunity window for a particular idea, in this case smart school systems, may have opened due to any number of reasons. But before it is exploited, the policy entrepreneurs and Punjab government must justify their choices. The pressure for such justification must come from the civil society and public intellectuals.

Not in the too distant future, when the tablets will have been distributed, and the concerns regarding them emerge in the media, the civil society campaigners will be criticising the government for yet another policy failure. The state and civil society have a mutual responsibility to not allow the private interests to trump public interest. If the government appears to lose its bearing, the civil society must help it rediscover it.

However, if we look around for the critical voices on these plans, we are not likely to find many so far. Private interests will always masquerade as public interests in the arena of education policy. They will also succeed in trumping the public interest if left unchallenged by those who take the protection of public interest as their raison d’etre.

The civil society has a critical role in this regard and must live up to it. It is time for the individuals and organisations with an understanding and concern for education to come forward and help the government by being its well-intentioned critics. The Punjab government on its part only stands to benefit from commissioning independent analysis and advice on its plans to set up the smart school system.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

15.12.2013

Vigilance and education
Teacher-parent cooperation and vigilance on the part of citizens is imperative for social accountability of teachers and promotion of education
By Rasheed Ali

It was a middle school in a village of Toba Tek Singh (then a tehsil of Faisalabad district and now itself a district) from where Nisar Ahmad received his early education. There were only three teachers in that school, and two of them were non-residents. Mostly they used to stay in one of the total four rooms of the school. One was used as the Head Master’s office, and remaining two rooms were occupied by the most senior classes, i.e. 7th and 8th. The veranda was used by the students in case of rain or a dust/windstorm.

Nisar Ahmad’s father and some other notables of the village used to visit the school one by one, almost every other day. The time these family heads spent in the school used to be really tough for the students. The visiting elders would not only ask the teachers about their problems or needs but also about the performance of students in the class as well as in examinations. They would not only ask about any absentee teachers but also about students and, therefore, it was really hard for students to ask for furlough. Nisar and his fellows disliked that vigilance on the part of the village elders, but couldn’t ask them to refrain from the practice.

In those days, middle class (eighth grade) annual exams were conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Faisalabad. And when Nisar reached senior classes, 6th, 7th, and 8th, he came to know that the students of his school always performed very well in the board exams. Despite severe shortage of teachers, students always produced very good results. There were only three teachers, for all nine classes – katchi (pre-one) class and then from one to eight classes. That means each teacher used to teach and supervise three classes, on an average.

The people who used to visit the school on a regular basis included two retired army men and Nisar’s father, who was a farmer by profession but he had a special interest in educating his children. Being a child, Nisar could not understand the importance of that vigilance at that time. But, now he can comprehend fully that their regular visits to the school were not without purpose. He feels they must have reached some understanding amongst themselves about keeping a check on students as well as teachers. They might have not known terminologies like “teachers-parents liaison committees”, but the work they carried out was very important and significant.

In the modern age, all educationists are convinced of the importance of teacher-parent cooperation and vigilance on the part of citizens for promotion of education in the country. Population Association of Pakistan President Shahnaz Wazir Ali, former co-chairperson of the Pakistan Education Task Force (PETF), told TNS that cooperation and close liaison between parents and teachers is a must for quality education.

On August 4, 2007, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, acting on the recommendations of the National Commission for Government Reforms in the Education Sector, gave approval for various reforms. It was decided that School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) would be empowered through greater administrative autonomy (with the majority of members and chairpersons from among parents) and financial powers. Also, more financial resources would be placed at their command (as is being done in the Punjab) to recruit teachers to fill temporary vacancies, monitor teacher absenteeism and utilise allocated funds to improve the schooling environment.

All these vigilance bodies have been working in almost all districts of the four federating units of Pakistan for long. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) working under the APF in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province has established Parent-Teacher Committees (PTCs) at all its schools in the province. The PTCs address topics such as teacher absenteeism, appropriate use of PTC funds, and other school-specific needs.

However, people in the field have reservations about the working of the committees. Dr Veqar Ahmed, deputy executive director, SDPI, believes that social accountability could address a range of issues in education, including identification of ghost schools, absenteeism among teachers and infrastructure unavailability.

Fayyaz Yaseen, a research associate at the SDPI, said that increased people’s participation could push the governments to set their policies right and improve education service in the public schools. He says that in reputed private schools, weekly one or two days are specified as the parent day. In those days, parents come to school, meet teachers and discuss problems and weak points of their children and this vigilance and coordination produces good results.

In these private schools, teachers know it well that they are being monitored by parents, and in case of complaints by the parents, they may be reprimanded or even may lose their jobs. Therefore, they try their level best to satisfy students in class and their parents outside the class, says Fayyaz.

However, in public sector schools, teachers have no such fears. There are other reasons also, but one is lack of teachers’ interest and lack of accountability that keeps them from putting in 100 per cent effort to improve the lot of students.

He says that recently the Punjab government has launched a good initiative. It has linked the salary, perks and privileges of teachers to the results of students. If students of a particular teacher show good results, he/she is rewarded in the shape of a better salary or other incentives.

A study, Citizen Report Card, conducted in the field of education, revealed that about 40 per cent of students and parents are not satisfied with the quality of education provided in public sector schools. The report highlighted the need for vigilance by parent-teacher bodies. However, Fayyaz regrets that teaching methods at the public schools are obsolete and Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) had been non-functional. That’s why, despite enhanced budgetary allocations, quality education is not being imparted in government schools.

Zehra Arshad, National Coordinator, Pakistan Coalition for Education (PCE), believes that social accountability is a political process which is related to empowerment of communities. Stressing a vigilant citizenry, she says that civil society should sensitise and mobilise the marginalised and discriminated against public for their rights and entitlements. She says that civil society should constructively engage strong informal voices of the public for constructive engagement with formal decision-making structures to hold them accountable and transparent to manage public affairs. She says that education standards in the country could be improved significantly if parents and citizens at large assume the important role of vigilant and monitoring bodies.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

15.12.2013

What is a hospital?
Besides supervising public hospitals, the government should provide a ‘level playing field’ to private hospitals
By Syed Mansoor Hussain

For a Punjabi like me, travelling from Lahore to Gujranwala on the GT Road is always a pleasure. Along the road one can see farms stretching for miles, industrial complexes, and vibrant small towns. But as I go through the small towns, some now large enough to be called cities one interesting thing I notice is the large number of storefronts with a sign proclaiming them to be a ‘hospital’.

Fortunately during my travels I have never needed the services of such a hospital, but I often wonder whatever makes such an establishment proclaim that it is a hospital. The first 30 years of my professional life was spent in the US where hospitals are very closely regulated and monitored. So when I see a storefront made up of one or two rooms proclaiming that it is a hospital, it always makes me wonder who or what agency of the government monitors such a claim.
Many private hospitals now provide advanced care and also compete among themselves. That is one of the keys to their success. If they provide good care at a competitive price, they will succeed or else they will fail.

Before I go any further, I want to stress the fact that there are many private hospitals in our major cities that are indeed worthy of being called real and proper hospitals. Just off the top of my head in Lahore alone I can name more than half a dozen such institutions. Even so, the only true ‘general hospitals’ that I know of that provide full service and treatment for almost all types of patients remain in the public sector. These include our great teaching hospitals attached to our public medical colleges.

Let me just enumerate what in my opinion must be available before any medical establishment can call itself a ‘hospital’. First and foremost is a fully equipped and staffed emergency room or what was once quaintly called a ‘casualty department’. An emergency room must have around the clock ability to take care of all patients seeking medical care.

This includes available medical and nursing staff capable of caring for paediatric and adult patients that arrive with medical or surgical problems. It must also have an attached laboratory that provides basic blood tests and also has diagnostic capabilities like X-Rays, ultrasounds, ECG and monitoring facilities. Also senior consultants must be available at short notice to take care of complicated medical or surgical cases.

The next obvious requirement is intensive care units (ICUs), Coronary Care Units (CCUs), Operating theatres that are fully staffed and blood banks that can provide blood for transfusions to patients in need. Of course, what then is needed is multi-specialty support. It must, however, be accepted that even some of the well equipped hospitals cannot provide the most advanced type of specialised care. For this reason, ‘tertiary’ care hospitals or specialised institutions are available that can step in with treatments that general hospitals might not have available at their premises. Even so, most general hospitals must have the capability to stabilise patients before they can be transferred to specialised centres.

However, there is one problem that most ‘private’ hospitals face. Patients who have ‘medico-legal’ problems like gunshot wounds or arrive after accidents do not receive anything but the most rudimentary care in these institutions and this includes some of the largest and very well equipped hospitals. The legal problems that arise after taking care of such patients can create a major problem. After all staff and private practice dependent physicians that are paid by the hour cannot be sent off to sit around waiting to give evidence at different courts for months and even years.

A few years ago, Government of the Punjab created a Punjab Health Care Commission (PHCC) with the purpose of licensing and overseeing hospital facilities. Unfortunately, not much has been done to close down the nominal hospitals that have minimal facilities and often even do not have qualified staff available on premises. Frankly, such ‘healthcare providers’ do more harm than good for the population in general. Substandard clinics and inadequately trained ‘quacks’ are at present the major source of the Hepatitis epidemic that is sweeping the country. The first priority of the PHCC must be to monitor and, if possible, shut down such establishments.

The next order of business must be to examine all the public hospitals and make sure that they are complying with regulations. From the perspective of the ordinary people, the quality of healthcare available in government run hospitals is most important. After all a majority of citizens seek care in these hospitals. But there is also a secondary factor that ultimately is also very important. Most of our physicians and future specialists are trained in these hospitals and what they learn here is what they will do when they go out to practice on their own or in other institutions.

If government run hospitals are not supervised and the quality of care examined, then no government or semi-government agency has the right to try and ensure rules and regulations for the private sector. That happens to be one of the major complaints of the private sector hospitals against the PHCC.

However, the focus of the PHCC seems to be on intimidating larger private hospitals and enforcing requirements that have little to do with patient care. Clearly, it is impossible for private hospitals to adhere to western standards of medical care. These hospitals would very much like to provide the sort of care available in major hospitals abroad but they have to live with the realities that exist in Pakistan.

We have a shortage of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff, and much of the advanced technology is often just too expensive to obtain and to maintain. The problem simply becomes that if these hospitals in the private sector try and keep up with the requirements that are presently being enforced by PHCC they will price themselves out of the market for the average middle class patients. That will be a disaster and will increase the burden on the already overburdened public healthcare system, deficient as it is.

It is obvious that private hospitals must be regulated and supervised but rather than enforcing unenforceable regulations about paper work and doctor’s notes, the emphasis should be on things that really matter. Equipment, adequate staffing, functioning labs, sterilisation of instruments, proper disposal of medical waste, and a system of determining quality of care including surgical and medical outcomes are the obvious priorities.

One of the important things to remember is that private hospitals are run along business lines. Unless they can show a profit, they will not survive. Over the last few years, many private hospitals are now available that provide relatively advanced care and also compete among themselves. That is one of the keys to their success. If they provide good care at a competitive price, they will succeed or else they will fail.

Such competition in the long run will allow these hospitals to improve. If the hospital is profitable, that will be an incentive for its management to invest in technology, infrastructure, and human capital to make it even more profitable. So as far as the PHCC is concerned, its primary goal besides supervising government run hospitals should be to provide a basically acceptable level of performance and make sure that the private hospitals function in a comparable fashion. In other words, it should try and provide what can be referred to as a ‘level playing field’.

__________________
"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)