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Duty to Care: op-ed


By DR FARID A MALIK in Pakistan Today, Nov 19th, 2020.
Governments have a duty to care for their citizens. There has to be a concept of motherhood. Unfortunately in the land of the pure this benevolence is totally missing. In the formative years, both the political leadership and the administrative machinery was caring and dutiful but it gradually faded away. A visit to any state institution is always a horrifying experience, as either the staff is missing or totally disinterested in performing their duties. Any kind of facilitation, help or hand-holding is non-existent. From the Prime Minister’s House to Chief Minister’s offices all the way down to the civil secretariats even routine letters remain un-replied despite reminders. It is a perfect example of a government by the elites and for the elites, the only exemption being upfront gratification to get the job done.

Over the years, the concept of institutional relief or people-friendly legislation has also finished. After the 1950s, the elected government in the 1970s tried to facilitate the masses. The 1973 Constitution as written is a progressive document which has not been implemented in letter in spirit. Article 25-A declared literacy to be a right of the citizen. By 1985 every Pakistani had to be literate. Zia removed the time limitation clause by inserting, ‘within reasonable time ‘, which meant never. Till today the menace of illiteracy and uncontrolled population growth continues to threaten our very existence as a nation. Finally in 2016 the clause was restored. Every five-year-old had to be in school by August at the start of the new academic year but again the deadline has been repeatedly missed.

On my own initiative I approached the School Education Department in Punjab to convince them to meet the constitutional requirement. I was told that they did not have reliable data to plan and there were no funds in the budget to obtain the information from NADRA. In order to facilitate it, I offered my services in obtaining the required information from NADRA. It was agreed that the Department would write to NADRA for specific information about five-year-olds so that they could be accommodated in schools and a copy of the letter would be given to me for follow-up action. The department took it as a free ride and included in their request all kinds of additional information. On my protest, I was promised that another letter would be issued as agreed but it never came. No one seems serious or concerned. While the common curriculum is a good move, primary universal coverage is the starting point of a campaign against the menace of illiteracy which has been repeatedly ignored.

The Orange Train in Lahore is being claimed as a hallmark of development. At a cost of S2 billion together with an annual subsidy of Rs 12 billion the entire country could have been educated. With a claimed literacy rate of 54 percent now there are all kinds of uncalled for activities on board the trains. Recently two groups clashed for space on an overcrowded bogey, and to counter such incidents, police has been posted to maintain law and order. Very soon there will be a police post on every station, as we see these boards on the roads indicating the jurisdiction of Thanas, ‘Agaz Hudad-e-Thana Orange Train‘ (The limits of the Orange Train Police Station start here). President Farooq Leghari was very vocal about the kickback-driven projects of the PML(N). Brick and mortar projects provide the best opportunity to make money. Maintenance and low-budget projects are ignored. In the entire country no water treatment plant is functional. Untreated waste water of Lahore flows unhindered into the River Ravi to contaminate the entire water network. Water borne diseases are rampant. Bottled water has become big business as a short-term fix for the affluent. Israel recycles 90 percent of its water while we use it to grow vegetables for human consumption to spread diseases.

Recently I had the chance to check on my bank accounts which I was unable to operate because of the pandemic, and most of them had become dormant. State Bank of Pakistan is the regulator of all banks, does it operate in a Covid-Free Zone? Why was a blanket waiver not issued to keep all accounts current till the vaccine arrives and normalcy prevails? Tenants have stopped paying rent, yet the property tax notices keep coming. I called the inspector, and he told me that he had gone to his village for safety while the offices were shut down. He did promise to look into the waiver for the lock down period but it never came, so finally I had to pay the tax with penalty. It seems the people of Pakistan have a stepmother who refuses to understand the needs of its suffering children.

In India, Laloo Prasad Yadav as Minister turned around the entire Railway Service by inserting one line in the decision making SOP; ‘Public Benefit’. So every file that came to him for promotion or fare increase it had to include justification for public benefit, otherwise it was straight away rejected. He was not a very educated person but knew how to serve his voters. Recently India had adopted a Policy of Generic Medicine to ensure low cost supply of drugs to the masses. Such a policy was implemented in Pakistan in the 1970s by Sheikh Rashid alias Baba-e-Socialism. The Mafia got after him and the policy was soon withdrawn after the fall of the elected government in July 1977. The right to travel was also bestowed by the elected government in the 1970s, and today more than the exports the country relies on the foreign exchange remittances from the expatriates who benefited from this policy.

This stepmotherly attitude of the government has to change to avoid a divorce followed by remarriage, which may entail dismantling the entire system. Non-performing organizations eventually meet their logical end. The collapse of the mighty Soviet Empire should be an eye-opener. In the 1980s, US President Ronald Reagan stood on the West German side of the Berlin Wall and shouted for the other side to hear loud and clear, “Tear down this wall”. Within a few years it came down, and Germany was reunited to emerge as a major power in the European Union. The people of Pakistan have been motherless for several decades which must change now. These colonial institutions need to be re engineered, they can no longer rule and exploit, they have to serve to survive, the writing on the wall is clear, only caring mothers are irreplacable, stepmothers are not.https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/11/18/duty-to-care/