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Derailment of Karachi Express |
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The derailment of Karachi Express night train is a most unfortunate tragedy, which has claimed at least 58 precious lives and left around 120 injured.
Most of some 900 passengers travellers in the train were on way to spend the Eidul Azha holidays with their families and relatives. It was speeding between Karachi and Lahore when 15 out of the 17 carriages of the train derailed near Mehrabpur, and two of them were destroyed completely in the accident.
Pakistan Railways has ruled out possibilities of sabotage or terrorism, and said that broken track joint might have caused the train derailment. The Railways GM said that a welded track joint broke. Tracks shrink in winter and there are many forces on the track and sometimes this joint breaks.
Although the performance of the Pakistan Railways has improved in the recent years, there is a great deal of inefficiency in the department mostly due to bureaucratic complications.
Inspection and guarding of the tracks is not done efficiently and the poorly-paid staff of the PR are hardly monitored to evaluate their performance.
The high-ups merely attend meetings and enjoy the fruits of their designations.
According to reports prepared by the World Bank and others, Pakistan Railways is unable to service its debts and has been often unable to fully fund its operating costs and pension payments.
Its work is constrained by bureaucratic procedures and by powerful political interests. Over the last two decades its performance has deteriorated continuously. Though bank-financed projects were expected to reduce rail-operating costs and recapture some of the freight traffic that had shifted to road transport, PR saw its market share further decline and its operating losses grow.
To continue to operate, Pakistan Railways has received significant subsidies from the government, but no significant results have been witnessed, with the exception of a slight improvement in management in the higher level. Pakistan Railways would have to revamp the procedure through which the lower staff operates such as track-fixing, track-monitoring etc. in order to reduce the number of fatal and unfortunate accidents such as the one that has occurred now.
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Politics
and serving the people!
Historical achievements of Khidmat-e-Khalq
Foundation |
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By Syed Hamid Hussain Abidi
Former Information Adviser, Sindh Government
All major political parties of the country
have been claiming to serve the people
without any discrimination, especially
when the election comes near, but the
people have now become politically aware
that they can judge themselves that who
is really sincere with them and for whom
they should cast their precious vote.
The mainstream parties have declared their
party manifesto and in this regard, the
role of media is very important.
To serve the masses without any discrimination,
MQM Chief Altaf Hussain has established
Khidmat-e-Khalq, an NGO, who played a
vital role especially when strong earthquake
hit some areas of the country on Oct 8,
2005.
MQM’s ideological and philosophical
approach encompasses the concept of service
to humanity without any prejudice or discrimination.
The Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF) is
a highly organised, active and effective
social organisation. Its services are
spread over a very wide spectrum. Today,
the KKF is known throughout the country
for its social services. The Founder and
Leader of the MQM, Mr. Altaf Hussain and
his colleagues have served the destitute
and the needy long before the MQM came
into existence.
Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation has aided the
poor, the deprived and the deserving;
irrespective of their color, cast, creed
and religion, that symbolizes KKF as their
only friend and hope.
KKF provides financial support on monthly
basis to all those students and widows
who have no means of financial support.
All such deserving widows and students
are issued special cards. These poor widows
and students by showing their card at
the KKF Central Office receive the money
apportioned for them every month. The
widows are given aid on the basis of the
number of household members in their homes.
This way Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation is
supporting thousands of people.
The marriage of girls whose parents are
from low-income group is a major social
and financial problem. In many cases such
girls have to face this problem themselves.
The KKF provides financial help to such
parents for the arrangement of marriages
of their daughters.
Mr. Altaf Hussain always preaches to his
associates that maximum and every possible
help and assistance should be extended
to the poor, needy and helpless people.
He himself derives great satisfaction
in personally helping the deserving people.
It is the result of his training that
whether it be the establishing of cheap
fruit stalls in Ramazan-ul-Mubarak, or
Free Bazar or mobile dispensaries, the
KKF volunteers provide help to poor and
deserving people without any hesitation.
They neither want any reward nor seek
any praise. Their only concern is that
no needy person be left out from their
assistance programmes. This selfless service
is the ideology of Mr. Altaf Hussain.
KKF is actively engaged in its effort
to mitigate the sufferings of hundred
of thousand of poor and needy people.
In my opinion, every political party should
establish such welfare organization, in
this way the country will be prosperous
and the a trend of serving the people
without any discrimination by the political
parties will be started.
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