Corruption was faced even after obtaining the connection. Billing department employees & Meter readers appeared to be the most involved persons.

Corruption in Power Sector has various aspects

> Consumers also try to adjust their bills through illegal means & on the other side inflated bills are made deliberately to harass the consumers.

> Majority of the people paid bribery to the Meter Readers for reducing the electricity bills.

If yes, please tell us what kind of corruption did you face over the last one year, Who were the actors (Meter Readers, Office Clerk, Officers or Linesman)

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GHOTKI: Many senior officers and officials are being investigated by the relevant federal agencies for buying fake degree, diplomas and certificates with which they have acquired key jobs, including in the OGDCL sources revealed.

Indeed, there are people in high places with these degrees, and none of them has been charged with a crime,” a source familiar with the list in the OGDCl, headquarters.

The aggrieved local people informed that the suspects being investigated have spent a staggering amount, in some cases thousands and in some cases also millions of rupees to acquire the fake documents from accredited and non-accredited institutions both from country and abroad.

It is alleged that scores of others holding fake degrees, diploma and certificates have since joined plum jobs in the OGDCL at various oil and gas fields where they are unfairly edging out competent, locally trained employees.

It is, indeed, shocking to share that academic and intellectual fraud has become the order of the day in this country of ours where many senior positions holders, including politicians, have been decorated with fake papers where some are being referred as ‘doctors’ and ‘professors’.

It is also learnt that suspects in different varsities in Punjab and KPK are being investigated for buying counterfeit degrees from colleges and universities or bogus degrees from non-existent online high schools, colleges and universities. Others have been propelled to promotions in their respective places of work.

Doubtlessly, the certificates, acquired from what are popularly referred to as ‘diploma mills’ in and abroad, have since landed the fake degree holders on lucrative jobs in Pakistan. The certificates and diplomas must be from an accredited examination body authorised by the law.

Of course, initiative of the relevant agencies to probe into fake degrees, diplomas and certificates at Qadirpur Gas field, Ghotki district, augurs well to promote the “culture of merit”, “transparency” and “social justice” in the country.

However, in the wake of growing ‘ fake culture’ in the country, the federal and provincial organizations such as OGDC, KPT, QPA, NICL, FDE and others must launch merciless investigation to establish the details of the scandalous intellectual and academic frauds and award rigorous penalty to the wrong doers so that others may learn a lesson.

Killing of people in different incidents has become almost a routine in the country with no expectation that the situation would improve at some point of time in future but death of people and innocent souls at hospitals that are considered to be symbol of life is highly deplorable. Negligence has crept in the entire health sector and that is why some patients die due to neglect on the part of doctors and paramedical staff and others lose their lives due to careless attitude of the hospital administration. We frequently hear about abduction and sale of new born babies with active connivance of the officials concerned but the Thursday’s incident is worst example of neglect in which seven babies embraced death without seeing light of the day and throwing their parents into darkness and despair.

The fact that the fire erupted due to short-circuiting speaks volumes about dilapidated infrastructure and lack of vigilance on the part of those who are responsible for such things. Funds are made available every year for maintenance and repair but no one knows where these go and even there is no accountability for such lapses. Apart from hospitals, there are thousands of buildings in different parts of the country including educational institutions that are in poor condition and pose risk to people but we have seen no remedial step except rhetoric. Punjab Government needs to pay special attention to health and education sector where rampant corruption is a big obstacle in bringing about any improvement in the situation.

Ever since the British government introduced the Railways to India as a means of travel in place of bullock carts, it became the most convenient mode travel for the rich and the poor in the first to third classes from one end of the country to the other. Trains gradually got better and more convenient means of travel in India and people fell in love with trains. When Pakistan came into being the railway system was also divided. For years it was the most convenient means of travel, but gradually it started decaying like everything else, thanks to incompetent and corrupt governments. But all limits have been crossed now. The railways have become virtually non existent due to large scale corruption and mismanagement under an incompetent and corrupt minister, because the government wants to please its allied party ANP of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Only to keep this party happy the federal government has sacrificed the country’s Railway system.

Most of the Railway engines are lying as junk. The others have become so defective that they fail while moving on track. Trains generally get late by ten to twelve hours while poor travelers who have to take trains to reach their small towns or villages suffer badly. Thousands of travelers remain stranded on dirty platforms like cattle. Presently the number of Railway engines has been reduced to only 120 causing massive reduction in the number of running trains by 62 causing great inconvenience to thousands of passengers. The PR ministry with a huge staff headed by ANP Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour is sitting idle doing nothing. The minister could at least resign as a matter of self-respect if the government does not listen to his pleas for more funds. Or the prime minister should sack him on charges of inefficiency to save the much needed money wasted on his salary and perks.

The PR General Manager told the National Assembly standing committee recently that Railways have gone bankrupt and need Rs 11.1billion to avoid closing down more routes and trains. A large number of trains have already been closed causing great inconvenience to thousands of train travelers. But who cares! We have reached a stage of national bankruptcy while the rulers are playing their proverbial flute like the present day Neros. The Railway General Manager further told the standing committee that PR requires another Rs.6.1 billion for the rehabilitation of 145 locomotives which are lying in the junkyard for a number of years. Likewise we need another Rs 2 billion for the repair of coaches and Rs 2 billion for track maintenance and Rs One billion to create strategic reserves of oil and diesel. Be sure Mr. General Manager you will never get this kind of money from the government. So you better close the shop and go home. By the way don’t you make any profit in your business? If you do, where has it gone? In your pockets perhaps! If so, please shut your shop and enjoy the fruits of your inefficiency and corruption and twiddle your thumbs and let PR and poor travelers go to hell. They can go back to the old system of their forefathers and start travelling by bullock carts.

There was another proposal. If money is not available with the government, it can increase fares by 10 to 20 percent linking various categories of travelers and shift the load to poor passengers. The Railway Ministry is also thinking of sacking some 78,000 employees in case 36 passenger train services are cancelled. The government has finally approved a grant of Rs. 11.1 billion, but the Railway Minister is not optimistic that this promise will not be fulfilled. He said in January last year, the Finance Minister had approved a similar grant, but it was not paid. He called the Prime Minister, “the best the country ever had”, probably to please him to pay the grant. Otherwise it is a cruel joke.

The National Assembly was informed that PR owns 90,326 acres of land in Punjab, 39,423 acres in Sindh, 2,622 acres in Balochistan and 9,708 in Pakhtunkhwa. Not a single acre of land has been sold. Only 15.55 acres of land has been leased out at various places. He said that PR recently stopped running trains on seven popular routes after its losses crossed Rs 50 billion. No doubt this is very valuable land and even if a part of it is sold many problems of trains and passengers will be solved. The value of the land is estimated around Rs 246 billion but the government, due to political expediencies did not or could not open the Pandora’s box of the sale of land which will bring the land mafias into play with political support from various powerful groups as well as controversies between Federal and Provincial governments over the ownership of land. To put simply and briefly the element of mega corruption will come into play as it does in all such situations. If the railway system of Pakistan is to de saved and the interest of millions of passengers is to be served the government of Pakistan cannot do it. Only the Supreme Court can handle the situation because it is the only corruption free and competent institution in the country. It is requested that to save the railway system from total collapse the Railway minister along with his corrupt underlings must be sacked. For once the government should appoint a clean and competent minister along with a team of equally competent officers to put the railways system on track. The government should also ensure that the huge amount of money recently sanctioned by the government to help the railways from total extinction. Shahid Kardar who was appointed State Bank governor some months ago got fed up with the government’s persistent demands of the government to print notes worth billions which were giving tremendous boost to price escalation of goods and services in the country. A recent quote from Mr Kardar is worth noting; “Just three public enterprises; PIA, Steel Mills and Railways are together losing a crore rupees a minute.” God save Pakistan.