Pakistan railways (PR), either pivot of development or devolution?

Let me begin with a brief introduction, We (Tuaha khan, Izharullah and sharjeel Ahmed) are students of the department of governance and public policy (GPP), and are currently enrolled in the BS-6^th PAG (Public administration and governance), doing the course of Public Sector Reforms and social change under the supervision of Dr. Athar Rashid. In this course, we all are assigned to different public sectors and are responsible for contributing towards the reforms in these public sectors. In this blog, we will be talking about the public sector Pakistan Railways (PR). Our purpose today is, to share information about Pakistan Railways (PR).

 Before going towards the overview and historical development of Pakistan Railways (PR), the aims and objectives of our project are:

•       To identify the major issues of the railway sector of Pakistan.

•       To identify the Reforms contribution of government of Pakistan in the betterment of the railway department.

•       To compare the Pakistan and world's successful railway sectors.

•       To highlight the importance of the railway department in international relations and the economic development of Pakistan.

•       To highlight the relation of SDG's with the railway department.

•       To suggest youth-level reforms to tackle the growing problems of the railway sector.

 

We all know that Pakistan railway is a state-owned transport service, operating under the federal government and headquartered in Lahore. It owns an 11,881 km (2022) track across Pakistan, having 8 operating divisions: Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sukkur, and Gwadar. Pakistan Railways play an important role in the political, economic, and social development of Pakistan. It is employing more than 80,000 people across Pakistan, promotes trade, contributes towards the GDP of Pakistan, pivots of industrial and commercial development, promotes national integration, cheapest and safest mode of transportation.

Going back to a pre-partition time, in the era of British colonialism, we see that the idea of a rail network was first given by Henry Edward in 1847. On 13^th May 1861, the first railway line was opened in public between Karachi and kotri. After 1970, the Indian railways became the Pakistan railways. The question is, what went wrong? How Pakistan's railway system went bankrupt while neighboring countries performed admirably in railways.

We see that the primary mode of transport in Pakistan was railways but after 1970 road transport becomes more eminent and in turn shifted the focus from the railway to road infrastructure. From 2005-2010, the expenditure on railways was only Rs. 45bn compared to 155bn on national highways. The crisis on railways was started in 1970 and continuously increasing, which is creating a burden on the economy of Pakistan. Interference from politicians and bureaucracy, as well as the failure to update the inherited 19th-century railway infrastructure, has resulted in mere mismanagement and rot. The Political developments were not proved beneficial to the system. In the time of 2008-12, the deficit of the railways had increased from RS 12.6 billion to RS 18.6 billion in 2008-09, then, in the following year, 2009-10, the deficit reached RS 20.1 billion and in the following year it reached RS 26.9 billion and in 2012-13 it reached RS 30.5 billion.

           

Considering the above deficit statistics, which have increased with each passing year, we can conclude that it was the inefficiencies of the government during their tenure that prevented them from dealing with the situation effectively. They continued to burden the economy rather than reform the sectors. The NLC (national logistic cell) was also a major contributor to the decline of the freight train role in the Pakistan railway because it focuses on road freight rather than rail freight. Pakistan Railways are essential in Pakistan because they are the cheapest mode of transportation, almost everyone can afford it, it is environmentally friendly and emits less pollution than other vehicles, accidents by trains are much lower than other vehicles, the average death rate per year on railways is less than 100, whereas road transportation has above 10,000 deaths, During disasters, railways are thought to be the most efficient means of moving relief materials in the least amount of time.

The failure of Pakistan railways PR is mainly due to the multifaceted issues of bad governance, political intervention, mismanagement, corruption, insufficient human resources, poor infrastructure, poor maintenance of tracks and bridges, and massive deficits. Furthermore, the increasing percentage of investment in road infrastructure and the sustained low investment in Pakistani railways have had a negative influence on Pakistani railway's financial status.

As students of public sector reforms and social change, we will make suggestions for reforms or improvements to the railway department. All students are encouraged to contribute reform ideas.

Regards,

Tuaha khan, IzharUllah and Sharjeel Ahmed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction to the Health Sector of Pakistan

Health Sector of Pakistan

World Health Organization (WHO) defines a healthcare system as a system consisting of people, and organizations that primarily work to restore, maintain and promote health. A well-developed, efficient and advanced healthcare system is incumbent to improve the health of people and prevent the spread of diseases and it is one of the primary concerns of states. Pakistan has a three-tier healthcare system consisting of hospitals, dispensaries, and rural health centers. Since its inception, many governments have tried to improve the situation in Pakistan. Although our system improves over time. The progress of the health sector in Pakistan could not be ignored since the time of independence. Moreover, it has achieved improvement in the social sector, agricultural sector, economic sector, and Industrial sector. Pakistan's health care system is in progress and since last year, Pakistan has tried to make many improvements in its health care delivery system and has brought out many reforms. 

We are students of the Department of Governance and Public Policy, 6th semester, Morning (BS Public Administration and Governance). This semester, we have a course on 'Public Sector Reforms and Social Change' supervised by Assistant Professor Dr. Athar Rashid. In this regard, we are working on the Health sector of Pakistan. The health sector aims to provide social health protection and equal access to quality. Health care has significant positive effects on individual public health, economic growth, and development. Without substantial investment in human resources, Pakistan can never achieve sustainable economic development

Objectives:

• Identify the major challenges of the Health sector of Pakistan.
• Establish a comparative analysis of the Health sector between Pakistan and other international countries.
• Focusing on the need analysis of people regarding the Health Sector of Pakistan.
• Emphasize the importance and role of the Health sector of Pakistan
• Establish sustainable development and economic growth.
• Provide a way forward to reform the challenges of the Health sector.

 

Furthermore, their stakeholders and regulatory bodies play key roles in connecting health information systems for better health such as; Pakistan medical and dental council, Pakistan Medical Commission Pakistan council of homeopathy, Pakistan nursing council, Pakistan pharmacy council (PMC), Council of Tibb, Ministry of National Health services regulation and coordination, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Health, Provisional departments of health, District healthcare system and NGOs.

We always welcome your suggestions regarding the Health Sector of Pakistan and try to make public institutions more transparent and accountable.

 

Regards,

Aimen Riaz, Samiullah, Wazir Shafaat, Umair Khalid.

 P.S. You can send us your suggestions and queries at: aimenkhan932@gmail.com

What does Pakistan’s Energy Mix look like?

Understanding the Energy Mix of Pakistan

Energy Mix of Pakistan

Generally, energy resources are divided into conventional and non-conventional or renewable resources. Conventional Resources are categorized into two types, Thermal Energy including coal, oil, natural gas, and Nuclear Energy. The Non-conventional Resources can be solar, hydel, wind, geothermal, and biomass. Pakistan’s two-thirds of the energy requirements are fulfilled by thermal resources. The Primary Energy Consumption of different sources has been demonstrated by Integrated Energy Planning for Sustainable Development (IEP) under the Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives, with the same percentage of fuel oil and natural gas, 19% coal, 17% electricity, and the lowest LPG consumption. 

Primary Energy Consumption 2020 (IEP)

Why Pakistan is still far behind the other developing countries despite its potential for renewable energy production? Pakistan’s energy mix is mainly 64% fossil fuels, 27% hydropower, and 9% other renewables and nuclear power. Coal is an important form of fossil fuel with increasing consumption in Pakistan. The share of coal in the energy mix has certainly increased in the past few years due to the Chinese investment projects under CPEC. Whereas there is a frequent lack of financial and technical resources to install and run hydroelectric power plants. There is an emphasis on clean and safe energy for use and environmental protection, for this the use of coal has to be reduced with a shift towards hydel and solar energy. Technological innovations have improved energy efficiency with decreased costs and affordable usage.

Pakistan’s energy mix is in shambles. The country has consistently lagged behind other countries in terms of its renewable energy generation, with only 2% of its electricity coming from renewable sources. This is large because Pakistan has historically relied on fossil fuels and imported gas to meet its energy needs. Due to these factors, Pakistan has one of the highest CO2 emissions in the world. It is well documented that CO2 emissions are directly linked to climate change and therefore pose an urgent threat to global warming. However, there are other factors at play too such as deforestation and soil degradation which further contribute towards global warming by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere; this has led to increased flooding in certain regions across Pakistan. For example, last year’s floods affected over 60 million people throughout Pakistan and caused extensive damage; this was largely attributed to climatic events like these events occurring more frequently because of changing weather patterns due to global warming.

Pakistan must urgently reassess its current energy mix and devise an energy policy based on a cost-benefit ratio as well as sustainability and optimal utilization. In the short run where Pakistan faces acute electricity deficiency, new hydro projects cannot be expected to meet the deficit. In the long term, there is a need to enhance investment in hydropower generation as there continues to be a risk of shortage of dependence on fossil fuel continues. The fact is that to suit the needs of Pakistan there needs to be an extensive expansion of the available energy sources. The energy mix of Pakistan needs to be more than just gas, oil, hydel and solar.

Best Regards,

Areeba Abid, Haider Tanoli, Irfan Haider, Talha Khaliq

P.S. You can send us your suggestions and queries at: areebaabid17@gmail.com

Introduction to Education Sector of Pakistan

 

Education is an action or an event that has a forming influence on a person's mind, character, and physical ability. It’s a much needed proficiency in leading a proper code of conduct in life. In Pakistan, education was supposed to have a forming influence on people's minds, characters, and physical abilities. Unfortunately, that was not possible. The two-nation theory was not the main focus of the policymakers. The primary principle of the two-nation theory was that Islam, with all its beauty, has its own distinct culture, language, religion, legal system, and an educational system where Muslims distinguish themselves apart from the world in a crystal clear manner. Yet, the objectives and goals set up in each policy were not met. Foreign imperialism’s objectives were imposed in their place and the youth is compelled to indulge in whatever the rules speak. In comparison to the mother tongue and the official language, English was given a higher priority. Moreover, a class system was established in place of nationhood with multiple stereotypes and prejudiced attitudes and that status quo has prevented nationhood from prevailing. Colonial rule was in place in one form or another and if one looks at the bigger picture the colonial mindset still prevails in the implicit minds of the citizens of Pakistan.

We, the students of Governance and Public Policy in BS-6 semester, Morning have the subject of “Public sector reforms and social change” under the supervision of Assistant Professor Dr. Athar Rashid. We are working on the Education sector of Pakistan. We aim to highlight the importance and need for quality education alongside focusing on the role of the Public Sector in the education sector. Pakistan has been affected by the controversies surrounding the English language, just like the majority of postcolonial nations. According to numerous academics, Pakistani schools struggle to understand the concept of classification. The adoption of regional languages as the primary language of teaching in some provinces (such as Sindhi and Pushto) further complicates the situation. The madrassah sector, a public education system that is in disorder, and a private sector that is typically out of the reach of the great majority of residents make up Pakistan's three parallel systems of education. This demonstrates that English is highly politicized (in terms of adoption) in Pakistan and also plays a role in the marginalization and exclusion of society's weaker classes.

Our objectives are to identify the main problems of the education system in Pakistan, to examine critically the root causes of the problems of education systems in Pakistan, and to present possible long-term solutions to the problems of the education sector in Pakistan.

Education is an important factor in human progress and the basic right of every citizen of Pakistan. Education is considered to be closely related to the economic and social development of a country. Without substantial investment in human resources, no country can achieve sustainable economic development. Our message to you is that every one of you plays an individual role in highlighting such issues that should be reformed. Education is a significant factor in achieving success, building character, and for living a wholesome and happy life, and is crucial for a progressive developing country. Substantial and authentic education always humanizes the person. In this reference, “Education for all” has become an international goal for both developed and developing countries. Let us all together be the torch bearers of promoting fundamental education and raise our voices towards the advancement of our country bringing a kind of evolution never seen before.

Best Regards,

Arooj Aftab, Karamat Ali, Usama Khan Niazi

Introduction to the Energy Sector of Pakistan

 Energy Sector of Pakistan