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War against dengue fever

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Shobaz Sharif | Muhammad Bilal Ghauri

This column was published in Daily Jang dated 08 Sept. 2014.

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The best work of Punjab Govt 2008

Column | Hassan Nisar

This column was published in Daily Jang dated November 05, 2008.

 

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EDUCATION | Punjab tops in literacy rate

Punjab highest in ranking for education

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 Punjab is surging ahead of the other provinces in education with its 14 districts ranking in the top 20 in education, according to a report released by Alif Ailaan and the Sustainable Development Institute on Thursday. The report provides a snapshot of the education situation in Pakistan’s 146 districts, and shows how widely education standards vary across the country. It provides a tool to track the performance of politicians, administrators and education providers, and measures the progress that the provinces and districts are making. Like last year, the report said that Sindh, Balochistan, and FATA occupy the bottom of the rankings with Sindh making its first appearance at number 40 with Karachi. “This demonstrates a lack of commitment to follow-up on promises made by the provincial government. A recent example of this is the pledge that nine political parties made three months ago to ensure quality education for all the 6.1 million out-of-school children in the province,” it maintained. According to reports, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) is the second worst performing province despite the government’s commitment to improve the situation. This is owing to gender disparities as well as poor learning outcomes in the province. KP is followed by Balochistan which is at the bottom of the rankings. “The province has shown poor performance and is a matter of pressing concern, given that there are 1.76 million children out-of-school,” it said. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), the Poonch District has fallen from its top spot last year, and comes in the ninth position in 2014. AJK has shown an overall decline from second position last year to third position this year, the report said. Although there are success stories this year, with some districts improving their performances to rise in the rankings, the report shows that the overall quality and the availability of the facilities are still unsatisfactory. Chakwal, which ranks highest nationwide, has a net enrolment rate of just 83 percent, which is far from the promise of ensuring quality education for all. According to report, more than four out of six children in Chakwal who are enrolled dropout before reaching class eight.

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Shahbaz Sharif factor makes strides

Shahbaz Sharif factor makes strides

As the intelligentsia and literati of Pakistan are churning out different theories and definitions based on their in-depth and keen observation of events and personalities, they have come up with two new terms that are quite amazing. One is Shahbaz Sharif factor and the other is human machine or human engine of growth.

Moving among these circles and trying to ascertain the actual meanings of these newly coined terms vis-à-vis the dynamic and energetic personality of Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, I was left with no option but to concede to these new epithets for the never-fading spirit behind Punjab’s immense progress. I am talking about the two terms ‘Shahbaz Sharif factor’ and ‘human engine’. No doubt they factually sit well with Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s personality who is not at all an average politician. Such leaders are a priceless asset of a country like Pakistan which is going through some very difficult times obviously over the clash of institutions, politics of power, media proactivity and a tense security situation. Amidst such a complex situation it is easy to overlook that Punjab government is making progress at a rate that is unprecedented in developing countries. It may also be easy to overlook the man behind this: Shahbaz Sharif.

But I agree in toto with some analysts that the CM Punjab is not an average politician. He is not average anything. Anyone who has worked with him will testify that he is a compulsive workaholic, restless, perpetually discontent and fasitidious i.e impossible to please. He is unforgiving, his sense of purpose relentless and his appetite for progress insatiable. Ask any bureaucrat who has worked with him and they will all tell you the same thing. This man is on a mission and he will not let anything stop him, or slow him down. Working for Shahbaz Sharif is not for the faint-hearted. And if one were to go for proper evaluation of the work that has been done in Punjab under Shahbaz Sharif’s nose, it won’t be out of place to opine that what he has achieved is phenomenal. He famously built the Lahore Metro Bus in just 11 months. At the time, Metro was being built, it was hard to find anyone - citizens, bureaucrats, his political opponents or even members of his own political party - who believed he could complete this project in time. Many members of his own political party thought this project would cost them the elections. But he soldiered on. The Lahore Metro Bus now transports over 170,000 passengers every day, it played a central role in the national election campaign and every government in Pakistan wants to replicate it.

In a country where successful projects in government are few and far between, “we can build the Metro bus in eleven months” has become the new mantra in government of Punjab. Recently, a High Court judge admonished a government servant by saying that “if you can build the Metro bus in 11 months, why can’t you upgrade the jails.”

Bridges, fly-overs, roads, schools, hospitals - everything is built in record time when Shahbaz Sharif is supervising it. Even his worst political opponents cannot deny his effectiveness as an administrator. In a country where most state institutions have deteriorated, Shahbaz Sharif somehow manages to drive the government machinery at an unbelievable pace. A businessman who worked briefly in his team explained him as follows: “he seems like a captain of a hoary ship, with half-hearted crew, steering it at hell’s speed purely through his will”. If you sit through government meetings run by him, some of which I also got the chance to attend, given Shahbaz Sharif’s ‘open to media’ approach, this explanation is not far from truth. Some call it his waging finger, others, his impatience, but his indomitable will is surely steering the ship at hell’s speed. One of the meetings that I happened to attend was related to the dengue epidemic that would have been very deadly had Shahbaz Sharif not worked day and night to combat this rapidly emerging crisis.

The fact is that the real mettle of a leader is tested in times of crisis. Shahbaz Shaif was tested twice in his last term: 2010 floods and 2011 dengue epidemic. He performed so well that his handling of these two disasters became campaign slogans. Most experts had prviously predicted thousands of deaths in Lahore when it was hit by one of the world’s worst dengue epidemics in 2011. There were over 21,000 confirmed patients reported in Punjab. But the CM Punjab managed all that with unyielding spirits that can be termed no less than legendary. According to an analyst, he rather marshaled the entire government in a way that was unprecedented in Pakistan. He chaired 76 meetings on the trot at 6 am early morning, in which the entire government machinery presented their daily progress. Experts too were invited from Sri Lanka; SOPs were learnt and implemented overnight; blood infusion machines were imported and hospitals converted into specialized wards; thousands of kits distributed to citizens in a few weeks. The results were also extraordinary. Not a single death occurred due to dengue in 2012 in Punjab! Though experts may disagree about what may have contributed to such a drastic improvement within a year, no one can deny the herculean effort made by Shahbaz Sharif and his team. I am told that many other countries, which once shared their best practices with Pakistan, have started citing Punjab as a role model in using technology and government coordination to successfully manage the dengue. And my own experiecne while I was on a visit to China, also proved this fact as to how much the CM Punjab is liked in foreign capitals for his hard, intelligent work.

Where Shahbaz Sharif’s roads and bridges, and the Metro bus, are often quoted as examples to emulate, Punjab government’s work on education reform has gone almost unreported. Punjab’s school education roadmap, funded by DFID and the Worldbank, has been producing very impressive results. Sir Michael Barbar, a well-known education expert who has spearheaded the program in the past few years, published a report stating: “As of January 2013, as per a conservative estimate, there are 1.5 Million extra children enrolled in school. In addition, student attendance daily is now over 90 per cent, 81,000 new teachers have been hired on merit and more than 35,000 more teachers are present at school every day than two years ago. Over 90 per cent of schools now have basic facilities in place as opposed to less than 70 per cent two years ago. Importantly, across all the indicators there has been a narrowing of the gender gap, although more is required to be done, especially in the south of Punjab.”

In this time, Sir Michael Barbar has traveled to Pakistan every eight weeks and Shahbaz Sharif has religiously followed a well thought out plan. The same program is now being replicated in other provinces, notably KPK.

It is not a surprise that Shahbaz Sharif outperformed everyone else in Pakistan in the recent Gallup survey. Punjab Chief Minister was rated as very good by 21% people. As a comparison, the Sindh CM obtained only 6% while the KPK CM and Balochistan CM each got a mere 4% rating as very good. Going by this survey, Shahbaz Sharif is 4-5 times better than any other Chief Minister in Pakistan! But in the inner circles of the government, his performance is benchmarked against a much stiffer competition: Shahbaz Sharif of 1997. Such is the “Shahbaz Sharif factor”.

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Parvaiz Rasheed Reply to Haroon Rashid Rants

Archvies | Column

These columns were written in reply to the baseless rantings of Haroon Rashid. These columns were published in February 13 & 14, 2012 and . Presented here for making the records correct.

 

 

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Zapping mosquitoes, and corruption

Zapping mosquitoes, and corruption

LIVE in a crowded South Asian city and a host of problems—smog, contagious disease, corruption—may plague you. Each winter, the air grows foul. The monsoon season brings mosquitoes, bloodsuckers capable of carrying nasties such as dengue and malaria. As cities expand and people are packed closer, they are more likely to pass on infections. Overwhelmed municipalities, especially if weakened by corruption, offer a weak response. In Lahore, Pakistan’s second-most populous city, there were 21,292 confirmed dengue patients in 2011, a particularly dire year. At least 350 of them died, victims of associated haemorrhages or shock.
The usual response is to send out fogging lorries to spray a choking mixture of insecticide (such as DDT) and kerosene to kill mosquitoes. Public officials also advise residents to drain every reservoir of water near their homes. Mosquito larvae flourish in puddles, even inside old tyres or old flower pots. But foggers sometimes spread their helpful poison too liberally, where no dengue-infected mosquitoes are present, or too rarely, perhaps neglecting poor neighbourhoods. Municipal workers skip puddle-hunting, or fail to tip chemicals into ponds to kill the larvae. Crooked workers sell their insecticides or refuse to spray without bribes from residents.

After their especially grim spell, Lahore’s authorities last year looked for ways to use technology—in particular cheap, widely available smartphones—to help them put up a better fight against the mosquitoes. They equipped 1,500 city workers with $100 smartphones and asked them to take “before and after” photographs of their anti-dengue tasks and to upload images, tagged by location, so that they could be plotted on an online map, made available to the public. They also recorded where larvae were spotted (usually in traps), and reported the locations of known dengue patients.
The resulting data were then analysed to create a visualisation showing where and when dengue was infecting people. It was then possible to predict where dengue-infected mosquitoes would buzz up next, so that fogging and larvae-hunts could be targeted appropriately. The use of smartphones also had more subtle effects. Knowing they were being monitored and tracked in public, municipal workers also applied themselves more assiduously to their tasks. Anyone looking at the online map could see if the work being done in a particular area was adequate—and complain if it was not.
All this seems to have worked. Last year Lahore suffered just 255 dengue cases, and no deaths, says Umar Saif, a computer scientist seconded to the Punjab provincial government who oversaw the tracking side of the project. Strong political interest helped, too. The chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, who was re-elected in May, led daily meetings on the anti-dengue fight. Of course, 2012 might simply have been a milder year for dengue than 2011, so the effectiveness of the new approach will become apparent only after a few more years. Already, however, the Punjab government is extending the use of mobile phones to gather data and improve broader public services.
Other officials, such as veterinarians who are paid to travel to farms to deworm cows, have to take smartphones to record themselves at work and upload geotagged self-portraits to an official website. This makes it possible to check that they are actually turning up for work. They are also required to record the phone numbers of farmers they visit, some of whom are randomly called afterwards to be asked if the service was up to scratch.
Mr Saif is also trying out a model devised by Zubair Bhatti, a former Pakistani local-government official who now works for the World Bank. It involves making random calls to users of public services—including the police, health services and administrative services such as registering property—to inquire about the quality of service and whether they were asked to pay a bribe. Anyone who volunteers his mobile-phone number (so far, more than 1.3m people have signed up) will get a two-minute robocall from Mr Sharif, the chief minister. He explains that they will shortly receive a text message reviewing their encounter with a local official.
Even among the poorest fifth of households, 80% now use phones, so the technology can reach almost everyone. Illiteracy is a problem, but the chief minister’s call alerts a recipient to get help, if needed, with reading the text message when it arrives. It contains a specific question: did the police respond, as required, within 15 minutes of your emergency call? Were you asked for a bribe at the hospital, or when registering property? By collating the responses it is possible to spot problem departments and crooked officials.
Around 25,000-30,000 automated calls are now being made each day, and “we are gathering remarkable data on who is corrupt and where,” says Mr Saif. It is heartening that in the first two months after the scheme began, 60% of respondents said they were happy with their recent experiences of public services. That could help put anger over corruption into perspective. It is striking, too, that many complaints were over unclean offices, unclear fees for official services and petty frustrations, rather than corruption alone.
Either fight, against dengue or shoddy public services, could yet be reversed in Lahore. Smartphones, geotagged photos and canvassing for public feedback only help if the data gathered are acted upon. But phones are letting sunlight shine brighter on the workings of public services in Lahore. If they work as a disinfectant there, others may follow its lead.

http://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21578520-technology-and-government-how-clever-use-mobile-phones-helping-improve

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Metro Bus and Fort | Dr. Mujahid Mansorvi

This column was published in daily Jang, dated February 14, 2013

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Shahbaz Shairf address to Punjab Governance Forum 2012

Shahbaz Shairf address to Punjab Governance Forum 2012

میرے لئے یہ امر باعث اعزاز ہے کہ مجھے پنجاب گورننس فورم2012ءکی اس تقریب میں شامل ہوکر پنجاب میں حکومت کی کارکردگی کو مزید بہتربنانے کیلئے فاضل مقررین کے گرانقدر خیالات اور سفارشات سے آگاہی حاصل ہوئی ہے۔آج کی اس تقریب کے انعقاد کا مقصد حکومتی کارکردگی کا اعادہ نہیں بلکہ ہمارے لئے یہ بات زیادہ اہم ہے کہ ہم آپ کے مشورے اور آپ کی مہارت سے فائدہ اٹھاتے ہوئے ایک بہتر حکومت کے قیام کیلئے دیرپا اقدامات وضع کر سکیں جو سیاسی تبدیلیوں سے متاثر نہ ہوں۔ یہ وہ عوام دوست اور ملک دوست پروگرام ہونے چاہئیں جو آنے والے ہر طرح کے حالات میں جاری و ساری رہیں۔ میرے خیال میں آج کے اس پروگرام کے تمام مباحث کا مطلوب و مقصود یہی ہونا چاہئے اور میری بھی یہ کوشش ہوگی کہ میں کسی بات کو دہرائے بغیر اس مقصد کے حصول میں اپنا حصہ ڈال سکوں۔میں خود ستائی سے گریز کرناچاہتا ہوں لیکن میں آپ کی خدمت میں یہ عرض کئے بغیر نہیں رہ سکتا کہ جب ہم نے حکومت شروع کی تو ہمیں پچھلی حکومت سے ورثے میں کیا ملا؟ ہم نے چیزوں کی اصلاح کیلئے کیا اقدامات کئے؟ آج ہم کہاں کھڑے ہیں؟ ہمارے مثبت اور منفی پہلو کیا ہیںاور سب سے بڑھ کر یہ کہ آنے والے دنوں میں ہم ملک کے حالات کس طرح بہتر بنا سکتے ہیں؟ کسی طویل بحث و مباحثہ میں پڑے بغیر میں اپنی گفتگو کا آغاز ایک مثال سے کرناچاہوں گا۔2008ءمیں جب ہم نے پنجاب حکومت سنبھالی تو میں نے ایک منصوبے کا دورہ کیا جو ” لاہور قصور روڈ“ کے نام سے جانا جاتا ہے۔ یہ 5ارب روپے کا ایک پراجیکٹ تھا جس کی منظوری2005ءمیں دی گئی اور اسے 2007ءمیں مکمل ہونا تھا۔ اس منصوبے کا میرا پہلا دورہ میرے لئے کسی ڈراﺅنے خواب سے کم نہ تھا۔دورے کے دوران یہ شرمناک حقیقت میرے علم میں آئی کہ منصوبے پر کسی تعمیراتی کام کے بغیر اربوں روپے کے فنڈز خوردبرد کرلئے گئے تھے۔موبلائزیشن ایڈوانس کے نام پر بھاری رقوم ادھر سے ادھر کردی گئی تھیں۔یہ تمام پیشگی ادائیگیاں مسلمہ اصول و ضوابط کو پس پشت ڈال کر کی گئی تھیں اور ان کےلئے جعلی گارنٹیوں کا سہارا لیا گیا تھا۔منصوبے کے ایسے حصوں کی تکمیل کا معاوضہ بھی ادا کردیا گیا تھا جنہیں عملی طورپر چھوا بھی نہیں گیا تھا۔تھوڑی بہت سمجھ بوجھ رکھنے والا شخص بھی با آسانی اس نتیجے پر پہنچ سکتا تھا کہ منصوبے کے نام پر جاری ہونے والے خطیر فنڈز یہاں سے بہت دورکہیں محفوظ ہاتھوں میں پہنچادئیے گئے ہیں اور عوامی فلاح کے نام پر تیارکیا گیامنصوبہ عملی طورپر ایک صحراءکا نقشہ پیش کررہا تھا۔صورتحال اس قدر دگرگوں تھی کہ اس منصوبے پرکام اور اسکی تکمیل کے بارے میں کوئی حتمی پیش گوئی کرنا ممکن دکھائی نہیں دیتاتھا۔ میںنے دو برسوں میں پانچ مرتبہ اس منصوبے کا دورہ کیا،کئی ٹھیکیدار تبدیل کئے ان میں سے بعض بد عنوانوں کو گرفتارکرایاگیا، بعض سرکاری افسر معطل ہوئے اور پھر آخر کار ہم اس منصوبے کو پایہ تکمیل تک پہنچانے میں کامیاب ہوگئے۔یہ منصوبہ جو حقیقی معنوں میں سابق دور کی کرپشن کاقبرستان تھا آج عملی طورپر عوامی فلاح کا ایک مینار بن چکا ہے۔یہ سب کچھ نیک نیتی، محنت اور انتھک کوششوںسے حاصل ہونے والے نتائج کا ایک جیتا جاگتا شاہکار ہے۔ آپ اس حقیقت سے بھی آگاہ ہیں کہ یہ سب کچھ محض ایک فرد واحد کی کوششوں کا مرہون منت نہیں۔دنیابھرمیں اس طرح کے جتنے بھی کام ہوئے ہیں وہ اجتماعی دانش اور مشترکہ کوششوں اور ارادوں کے ذریعے ہی ممکن ہوسکے ہیں۔
اس معاملے میں اصل بات بے حسی،لا تعلقی اورکرپشن کے اس کلچر کو شکست دینا تھا جس کی جڑیں بد قسمتی سے ہمارے معاشرے میں بہت دورتک چلی گئی ہیں۔اس وقت پنجاب میں، میں خود اور میری ٹیم جس میں میرے سیاسی رفقاءاور بیورو کریٹ دونوں شامل ہیں اسی کلچر کے خلاف صف آراءہیں۔ ہم جانتے ہیں کہ ہم مشترکہ مفادات رکھنے والے مافیا کے اس ناپاک گٹھ جوڑ کے خلاف یہ جنگ لڑ رہے ہیںجس کی جڑیں ہر اس معاشرے میں بہت گہری ہوتی ہیں جہاں ادارے ابھی ابتدائی حالت میں ہوتے ہیں اور احتساب کا کوئی مضبوط نظام موجود نہیں ہوتا۔
 1998ءمیں ہم نے اپنے پہلے دور حکومت میں اہم منصوبوں میں تھرڈ پارٹی آڈٹ سسٹم متعارف کرانے کا پروگرام وضع کیا۔ ہم نے فیصلہ کیا کہ ایک خاص مالیت سے زیادہ کا منصوبہ چاہے اس کا تعلق انفراسٹرکچر سے ہو،سوشل سیکٹر سے یا محکمہ صحت سے، اس میں ٹرانسپرنسی کے تقاضوں کو برقرار رکھنے کیلئے تھرڈ پارٹی آڈٹ ضروری ہوناچاہئے۔ جب اللہ کے فضل سے ہمیں صوبے میں عوام کی خدمت دوبارہ کرنے کا موقع ملا تو یہ سسٹم ایک مدت سے کرپشن کے ڈھیروں تلے دب چکا تھا۔ ہم نے گزشتہ چار سالوں میں مسلسل کوششوں کے بعد اسے پنجاب میں دوبارہ متعارف کرایا۔اگر کوئی مجھ سے یہ سوال کرے کہ کیا اس خودمختار آڈٹ سسٹم کا دائرہ کار پورے پنجاب پر محیط ہے یا نہیں؟ تو میرے لئے اس سوال کا اثبات میں جواب دینا یقینا مشکل ہوگا۔
 تاہم یہ بات میں پورے اطمینان کے ساتھ اور بلا خوف تردید کہہ سکتا ہوں کہ ہم اس نظام کو نافذ کرنے کی پوری کوشش کر رہے ہیں، اس میں روز بروز بہتری آرہی ہے اور یہ کہ اس کے ثمرات ظاہر ہونا شروع ہوگئے ہیں۔یہاں میں آپ کی خدمت میں ایک اور مثال پیش کرناچاہتا ہوں۔جی ہاں! اسی شہر لاہور میں یعنی حکومت کی عین ناک کے نیچے باب پاکستان کامنصوبہ زیر تکمیل ہے۔تقریباً4ارب روپے کی مالیت کا یہ منصوبہ 2004-05میں شروع کیا گیاتھا۔میں اس میں ہونے والی تاخیر کے اسباب میں نہیں جانا چاہتا۔اس میں وقت کا بہت ضیاع ہوگا اور اس کیلئے بعض حساس پہلوﺅں کا تذکرہ ضروری ہوجائے گا لیکن میں اس منصوبے کے اس پہلو کا ذکر کئے بغیر نہیں رہ سکتا کہ اس منصوبے میں استعمال ہونے والا سنگ مر مر اٹلی سے درآمد کیاجانا تھا۔
 اس سفید سنگ مر مر پر اس غریب قوم کے 90کروڑ روپے صرف کئے جانے تھے۔جب اس منصوبے کے اپنے پہلے دورے دوران میں نے یہ سوال کیا کہ ہمیں اس منصوبے کیلئے سنگ مر مر درآمد کرنے کی کیا ضرورت ہے؟ تو مجھے جواب ملا کہ ” جناب یہ ایک بہت بلند مینار ہوگا۔ ہم اس کے اوپر یہ سنگ مر مر لگائیںگے اور لوگ دیکھیں گے کہ کس طرح تقسیم کے بعد یہاں پر قافلوں نے پڑاﺅ ڈالا اور یہاں پہ قیام کیا۔“ میں نے ان سے پوچھا کہ کیا 90کروڑ روپے کی خطیر رقم سے لگائے جانے والے سنگ مرمر سے ہم اس بات کی ترجمانی کراناچاہتے ہیں کہ پاکستان کے عوام بہت خوشحال ہیں؟ کیا یہ سنگ مرمر اس امر کی گواہی دے گا کہ یہاں امیر اور غریب کا فرق مٹ چکا ہے؟ کیا اس سے یہ ثابت ہوگا کہ ہم غربت اور بیروزگاری کے مسائل پر قابو پاچکے ہیں؟ میں نے ان سے کہا کہ آخر ہم اس طرح کے کاموں سے کسے بیوقوف بناناچاہتے ہیں۔ ہمیں اتنی بڑی رقم اوروہ بھی زرمبادلہ میں ضائع کرتے ہوئے شرم آنی چاہئے۔
     میرے اس فیصلے کی پوری شدومد کے ساتھ مخالفت کی گئی اور اس وقت کے ڈکٹیٹر کے مقرر کئے ہے کنسلٹنٹ جو جنرل قیوم کا قریبی دوست تھا،نے صاف الفاظ میں کہا کہ ” نہیں جناب چیف منسٹر! یہ بہت ضروری ہے بصورت دیگر اس منصوبے کی خوبصورتی تباہ ہوجائے گی۔“ اس موقع پر مجھے اپنا اختیار استعمال کرنا پڑا۔ تاہم وہ پھر بھی بڑی دیر تک اپنی انا پر اڑے رہے۔آخر کار میں بصد مشکل انہیں پاکستان کے شمالی حصوں میں پائے جانے والے سنگ مرمر کے استعمال پر راضی کرنے میں کامیاب ہوگیا جس کی مالیت 30کروڑ روپے تھی۔میں سمجھتا ہوں کہ آج کے سیمینار کے انعقاد کا واحد مقصد اس ایک مثال میں تلاش کیاجاسکتا ہے۔اصل بات اس ملک کے بارے میں ہمارے طرز احساس کی ہے اور اس سوچ کی ہے کہ ہم نے اس کے وسائل کو اپنی ذاتی ذمہ داری سمجھتے ہوئے اسی طرح سوچ سمجھ کر استعمال کرنا ہے۔ ہم میں سے چاہے کوئی سیکرٹری ہیلتھ ہو، خادم پنجاب ہویا کسی اور منصب پر فائز ہو،اسے سب سے پہلے یہ سوچنا ہوگا کہ آیا بجٹ اس امر کی اجازت دیتا ہے یا نہیں، کیا میں اس سرمایہ کاری کے بہترین نتائج حاصل کرسکوں گا یا نہیں اور یہ کہ اس منصوبے میں قومی وسائل کے ضیاع کا کوئی پہلو تو نہیں اور اگر ہم یہ سب کچھ نہیں کرتے تو پھر ہم نہ صرف اپنے ساتھ بلکہ قوم کے ساتھ بھی بے وفائی کے مرتکب ٹھہرتے۔ میرا خیال ہے کہ آج کی محفل کے شرکاءکو تمام امور پر اسی حوالے سے غورو خوض و بحث مباحثہ کرناچاہئے لیکن آپ مجھ سے اتفاق کریں گے کہ یہ ریاست کی ذمہ داری ہے کہ وہ اس امر کو یقینی بنائے کہ اس کا ہر شہری بہترین تعلیم تک رسائی حاصل کرسکے اور پھر دانش سکول سرکار کی طرف سے کی جانے والی اس طرح کی کوئی پہلی کوشش نہیں ہے۔ وفاقی حکومت اسی طرح کی سرمایہ کاری کے ذریعے کیڈٹ کالجوں کی تعمیر کرچکی ہے لیکن وہاںداخلے کا معیار از حد مختلف ہے جبکہ ہم دانش سکولوں میں میرٹ کو پیش نظر رکھتے ہوئے ان غریب بچوں کو اپنے گلے لگاتے ہیں، جن کا مقدر عموماً گرد آلود گلیوں میں گھومتے اور بے سروسامانی کی حالت میں غلاظت سے اٹی ہوئی جھونپڑیوں میں بے مقصد زندگی گزارنا ہوتا ہے۔میں سمجھتا ہوںکہ پاکستان کا یہی وہ منظر نامہ ہے جو ہماری بنیادی غلطی کی نشاندہی کرتا ہے اور اسی سے ہمیںیہ سبق حاصل ہوتا ہے کہ جب تک ہم غریب اور امیر کو اپنے خوابوں کی تعمیر کیلئے یکساں مواقع فراہم نہیں کرتے ہم اپنے بوسیدہ نظام کو درست نہیں کرسکتے۔     
ہمارے ملک میں امکانات اور صلاحیتوں کی کمی نہیں۔ قدرت نے ہمیں بہترین دماغوں اور وسا ئل سے نوازا ہے۔ ان میں سے بہت سے ابھی تک منظر عام پر نہیں آسکے۔ بہترین صورتحال کا تقاضا تو یہ ہے کہ ہمیں بیرونی امداد پر انحصار کرنے کی ضرورت نہیں ہونی چاہئے۔ میں نے اس بیرونی مدد کی کبھی مخالفت نہیں کی جو ہمیں باعزت طورپر دی جائے لیکن میں یہ امر کیسے فراموش کرسکتا ہوں کہ وہ ممالک جو ہمیں امداد دیتے ہیں انہوں نے ترقی اور خود کفالت کا موجودہ منصب دوسروں کی مدد کے بغیر حاصل کیا ہے۔ یہ کام ناممکن نہیں تاہم اس کیلئے ہمیں اپنے طرز زندگی کو مکمل طورپر تبدیل کرنا ہوگا اور یہ اس وقت ممکن ہے جب ہم باب پاکستان جیسے منصوبوں کیلئے سنگ مرمر برآمد کرنا بند کردیں،جب ہم پیشگی ادائیگیو ں کے نام پر قومی خزانے کی لوٹ مار سے باز آجائیں اورجب اس محتاجی کو ختم کرنے کا فیصلہ کرلیں جو ہمیں بیرونی ممالک سے قرضے اور امداد لینے پر مجبور کرتی ہے۔ یہی وہ طریقہ ہے جس پر چل کر ہم جناحؒ اور اقبالؒ کا پاکستان حاصل کرسکتے ہیں۔
حاضرین کرام! اگر اللہ تعالیٰ کے فضل سے عوام نے ہمیں دوبارہ منتخب کیا تو ہم ان کی خدمت کا یہ سفر اسی زور و شور سے جاری رکھیں گے۔ جہاں تک بیرونی امداد کا تعلق ہے ہم اسے قبول کرتے ہوئے اپنے عزت نفس کے تقاضوں کو فراموش نہیں کریں گے اور اس امداد کو ذمہ داری کے ساتھ استعمال کریں گے۔ میں اس ضمن میں پنجاب سکلز ڈویلپمنٹ فنڈ کی مثال دیناچاہوں گا اس پروگرام نے اپنے سابقہ اور موجودہ چیئر مین کی سربراہی میں قابل تحسین کام کیا ہے۔ یہ پروگرام برطانوی حکومت کے ساتھ مساویانہ مالی شراکت کی بنیاد پر تیار کیا گیا ہے اور اس کے ساتھ کوئی سیاسی شرط وابستہ نہیں ہے۔ اس کی واحد شرط یہ ہے کہ امداد کی تمام رقوم صحیح انداز میں صرف کی جائیں گی۔ ہم نے برطانیہ کے ٹیکس گزار عوام کے تعاون سے جنوبی پنجاب میں ہزاروں نوجوانوں کو مختلف فنون میں تربیت دی ہے اور اس پروگرام نے پاکستان کے بڑے بڑے تجارتی اداروں کی توجہ اپنی طرف مرکوز کرائی ہے۔ یہی وہ راستہ ہے جسے ہم مستقبل کا راستہ قرار دے سکتے ہیں یعنی اپنے نوجوانوں کی صلاحیتوں کو جلا بخش کر انہیں اپنے قدموں پر کھڑا کر کے مقامی اور بیرونی سطح پر روزگار حاصل کرنے کیلئے مدد کی فراہمی، ہمیں اپنے مستقبل کو تاریکیوں کی نذر ہونے سے بچانے کیلئے پوری قوت کے ساتھ بروئے کار لانا ہوگا اور اس کیلئے واحد طریقہ یہ ہے کہ ہم اپنے ملک کی اس 60فیصد آبادی کے مضبوط شانوں پر انحصار کریں جو نوجوان بھی ہے، با صلاحیت بھی اور محب وطن بھی۔        

http://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/mazamine/25-Jul-2012/122048

http://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/mazamine/26-Jul-2012/122203

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Punjab’s education success story

Punjab’s education success story

By Madiha Afzal

“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.” So ended Malala Yousufzai’s rousing speech before the UN Youth Assembly on July 12. Malala voiced a call to action to fulfil the universal right to education for every child. With 40 million  out of 70 million Pakistani children aged five to 19 not attending school, Pakistan is performing poorly in this regard. Given this, it rightly seems that we have mountains to climb before we can educate all our children.
But this is not a column about how dismal things look, about how our government is inefficient, and how our citizenry is unmotivated. It is about the steps that are being taken in the right direction, especially in Punjab. Here is a look at some of the “good news” from Punjab’s education sector, as Sir Michael Barber, Department for International Development’s (DFID) special representative for education in Pakistan, describes it. Due to a number of interventions, which are part of a larger reform road map, teacher presence and student attendance numbers have shown impressive increases in Punjab. Both the percentages of teachers present and of already enrolled students attending class were greater than 92 per cent in December 2012, up from 72 per cent and 82 per cent in September 2011, respectively. The percentage of schools with functioning facilities has also increased from 69 per cent to 91 per cent in the same time frame. Enrolment has seen increases for the five-to-nine-year age range, but most of these come from kachi (or kindergarten classes) and do not yet extend all the way through primary school. While some areas in Punjab have laudably passed the 90 per cent enrolment mark, others, such as rural areas and southern Punjab, as well as girls’ schools, clearly lag behind. In addition, students are learning more. The latest Annual Status of Education Report, which assessed over 60,000 children from all Punjab districts, reveals significant gains in learning outcomes for both literacy and numeracy. Clearly, there is much more work to be done, but the above indicators show progress.
A number of policy innovations, fostered by the DFID and led by the Punjab government, have made these developments possible. Greater monitoring of schools has been instrumental in improving teacher presence. This has been made possible by the tireless work done by a revamped programme monitoring and implementation unit. Also key is the Punjab Education Foundation, which enables poor children to attend low-cost private schools for free. There is also the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF), established in 2009 to provide merit-based scholarships and assistance in the 16 less-developed districts in Punjab. It has awarded over 41,000 scholarships, worth over Rs2 billion.
A number of government policies specifically target girls and young women. Under the Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme, annual cash stipends worth Rs1.5 billion are provided to 380,000 girls in grades six to 10 in government schools, in 16 out of the 36 Punjab districts. The objective is to improve enrolment and increase retention. The beneficiary girls are given Rs2,400 a year conditional on an 80 per cent attendance rate.
Some of Punjab’s policies and successes will be replicable and some will need to be adapted for the other provinces. The DFID is providing its second-largest funding to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with the expectation that some of these successes can be reproduced there. Balochistan is implementing a programme similar to the PEEF, in a good example of inter-provincial policy learning.
All of the above implies that Punjab is making strides in solving the access issue and in increasing the quantity of education supplied, at least at the primary level. But what about the quality of education? There are serious issues with our curricula and in our textbooks, as well as in how we expect our students to learn from these materials. While it appears that the 2006 curriculum reform recommendations have been incorporated in Punjab’s latest textbooks, there is no analysis yet of the quality of these textbooks. Over the next few weeks, I will be undertaking exactly that task.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2013.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/579652/punjabs-education-success-story/

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Mega Projects of Shahbaz Sharif (2008-13)

Mega Projects of Shahbaz Sharif (2008-13)

This news report was published on June 06, 2013 in Daily Jang, Lahore edition

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Shahbaz Sharif's Good Governance Outside Lahore

Shahbaz Sharif's Good Governance Outside Lahore 

Ever since the inauguration of the historic rapid bus mass transit system in Lahore, it has been widely acclaimed that the GoP is spending the whole development budget in Lahore. According to the misinformed but well trained propaganda icons, the rest of the Punjab is lagging well behind in basic facilities of modern life. Although, for the number of times it has been properly propagated through the mainstream media that the SS's GoP has spent much  more than what had been spent on Southern Punjab during the previous regimes. This is not only true for southern Punjab but also implies for central as well as the northern Punjab. The fact that all the capital cities around the globe are far ahead of their other local cities, Lahore is given more attention towards development and other activities. This does not mean that all other areas are left without any development. Another point of consideration is the population. Being the host of roughly 10 million humans, Lahore is approx. 3 times larger than Faisalabad, 4 times Rawalpindi, 5 times Multan and Gujranwala, 13 times larger than Bahawalpur and  over 16X larger then Rahimyarkhan. The dominated factor of population is an extremely important component  that counts for the mega development of Lahore. 

Having said that, in this blog post the intention is to nullify the concept that Lahore develops at the cost of development budget allocated to other areas of Punjab.  To prove this myth baseless, the development work outside Lahore during 2008-2013 is discussed here.

Health Sector 

Health being the most basic necessity of life comes under the top priorities in all the welfare states around the globe. CM Shahbaz Sharif, while knowing the importance of state of the art health facilities once stated

“Provision of health‚ transportation‚ educational facilities are my top priorities”, 

But  having only said that isn't enough. For it's only the action that can speak volumes. Although the medical colleges are the fuel for running a good stable health sector, in this blog they are being covered under the cloud of the education sector. Here only new establishments in the health sector are discussed.

We have compiled a list of health centers established worth billion of rupees in areas that are outside Lahore division. These include the following

• State of the art Cardiac Center at Chunian, the first of its kind to be established in Kasur in June 2012
• Fully equipped and functional Thalassemia Center Mianwali, dated July 14,2012
• Children Hospital, Mandibahuddin in Dec 2012
• Establishment of District Headquarter Hospital, Naorwal in March 2013
• Dialysis Centers at THQ Hospital Hazro and Haitian-Jahanian road district Attock in 2013
• Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi in 2013
• Commencement of work on Punjab’s first Institute of Urology, Rawalpindi which will have the capacity to conduct kidney transplants and will have the best and latest machinery installed, work has commenced on this mega project and it will cost 3 billion rupees. 

Other then these incentives the issue with the doctors on strike was impeccably solved as a result their salaries were increased many folds and their service structure was approved.  

Education Sector

Education is an issue of prime importance for any country. It helps in prospering through the tough times of the nations. Knowing the importance of education several initiatives were taken that are briefly explained here . I would also like to quote an example of Britian where new special purpose schools were built at the cost of millions to facilitate the young brains. One such is an educational village in Darlington, that was an inspiration of creating a separate chain of institutes for the most dejected faction of our society. 

As we stated earlier a list of major educational and research institutes developed during 08-13 are given below. 

• Danish School in Mianwali inaugurated in 2013
• Government Nawaz Sharif Girls Degree College in Mandibahuddin with 3000 student capacity in Dec 2012
• Special education center in Mandi Yazman, worth 45 Million PKR in Dec 2012 
• Rice Research Institute in Bahawalnager in Oct 2012
• Danish School Chistian and Attock
• Inauguration Of Vocational Training Institute At Bahawalpur Feb 2012
• Inauguration of Vocational Training Institute and Arts Council. in DG Khan Dec 2011
• Commencement of work at the Medical College at DG Khan To Be Constructed At A Cost Of Rs. 818 million.
• Establishment of University in DG Khan, 
• Establishment of Engineering Universities in Multan,
• Establishment of Women University in Multan, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Bahawalpur.  
• Establishment of sub campus UET LHR in Narowal.
• Establishment of Sheikh Kahlifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan vocational training institute in Rahim Yar khan in March 2013.
• Upgradation of Govt. Women college Faisalabad to Women university.
• Commencement of work for the Rehmat Al Alameen Medical College Faisalabad.

Parks and Horticulture, Sport facilities

For the importance of establishing recreational parks can never be suspected, steps were taken on the recommendation of the legislators from local areas. Then I too was astonished to see a lush green grassy football ground in my village 448GB tehsil samundri.  Following are some of the recreational facilities developed across Punjab.

• A family Park established in the populated suburbs of Mandi Bahauddin in Dec 2012
• City Sports Complex Gujranwala, first of its kind in the region to promote sports activities Dec 2012
• A beautiful family amusement facility "Shahbaz Sharif Park" which has been developed on a previously wasted piece of land with a huge swamp in Faisalabad 
• Inauguration of Lyallpur Park, Faisalabad in Nov 2011 
• Formation of Sheikh Kahlifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan public park in Rahim Yar khan in March 2013.

Infrastructure 

Infrastructure is actually the heart of any development activity. Without having a strong infrastructure nations can not progress. Roads connecting the farms to the markets pave the way to economic stability. Communication in this regard is important . Let me quote an urdu proverb that "کتے کے منہ میں ہاتھی کے دانت نہیں اگتے ". Meaning that if you want to have precious items like elephant teeth you can only get it by having elephants. China's present policy is the witness of this proverb. They built the infrastructure and then used that for industrial growth. Here in Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif has been known for the speedy and well planned projects. A list of some important projects is given below

1. Southern bypass which will connect D.G Khan to Muzaffargarh
2. Haroonabad City Road and Bahawalnagar City package that includes the betterment of existing road network in Oct 2012
3. Flyover at 6th Junction along Murree Road Rawalpindi in 2012
4. Commencement of work at Muzaffargarh-Alipur Road which will be a 115 kilometer dual carriageway
5. In July 2012 CM laid the foundation stone of a bridge to be constructed over river Jehlum at a cost of Rs 2 billion.
6. CM laid foundation stones of a sports complex and grain market in Hafizabad in July 2012
7. Foundation stone on 17 kilometer road from Kotli Sattiyan to Dhanda Dec 2012
8. Over-head bridge at Changa Manga Level Crossing at Chunian built at a cost of 443 million rupees, July 8 2012
9. Dual carriage underpass at AbdullahPur Faisalabad.
10. Development works in Okara for upgradation of various link roads.
11. Flyover and underpass at Pir Wadhai, Rawalpindi.

Housing Sector 

In one of my previous blog I mentioned that the concept of MAKAAN was in practice only fulfilled by Mian Nawaz Sharif when in 1986 he passed a bill from PA to grant the ownership to the residents of Katchi bastiees. It was exactly 26 years before the birth of CHNAGE. The same was continued whenever PMLN was given a mandate , be it the land distribution among landless peasants of Sindh or the todays residents of Athena Housing schemes. A glimpse of work in the housing sector is given below.

• Ownership certificates of 5 Marla plots were also given to extremely poor residents of South Punjab who do not own any property and had qualified through a transparent and merit based process. More than 25,000 people in South Punjab will benefit from this 5 Marla Jinnah Abadi Scheme
• CM visited the housing complex being constructed by the Turkish Government for flood affectees is partially complete and consists of 1270 houses in Muzaffargarh
• Certificates of ownership among successful and deserving applicants who had applied for 5 Marla plots In Dist. Tuba teak Singh.
• Construction and Inauguration  of Ganda Khel (IsaKhel), district Mianwali which was destroyed during flood in 2011, dated July 2012
• Labor Colony Muzaffargarh May 2012. 303 houses
• Model Village Constructed in Flood Affected Area of Rakh Jhalwala in Muzaffargarh Dec 2011
• Model Village in Layyah for Flood affectees Nov 2011
• 250 houses for destitute, Shahbaz Nager in Faisalabad in Nov 2011

In the end some work for the improvement of basic living conditions is given that has facilitated the local people a lot. The list is given below

• Clean drinking water supply scheme worth 320 million rupees in Kamalia, Dist Toba Tek Singh on Nov. 2012
• Hafizabad, inaugurated the Land Record Management Information System (LRMIS) Service Center in July 2012
• Improvement and expansion of water supply system project in Faisalabad May 2012
• Sewerage scheme with water treatment plant in Rahim Yar Khan in March 2013.
• Model Police Station Gujranwala, established in Dec 2012, under Police Reforms Program.

Another point of consideration is the population. Being the host of roughly 10 million humans, Lahore is approx. 3 times larger than Faisalabad, 4 times Rawalpindi, 5 times Multan and Gujranwala, 13 times larger than Bahawalpur and  over 16X larger then Rahimyarkhan. The dominated factor of population is an extremely important component  that counts for the mega development of Lahore. 

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