Made in Pakistan – A trademark in making

There is a famous saying that “If we had no winters, the spring would not be so pleasant: If we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”.  Though Corona has brought a greater crisis for the nations, it has also provided opportunities to those nations who are resilient and intelligent enough. The rapid spread of corona meant that every country has to cater for its need before giving outward. The crisis was therefore specifically harsh on countries, who were not self-sufficient in the production of essential medical equipment.

When the pandemic hit Pakistan, the virus spread at a rapid pace even more than what was predicted. The emergent situation exposed fragility and shallowness of our health care system bringing to light many grave problems. One of the major problem which Pakistan even now is facing is shortage of ventilators. Presently, hospitals have only 1503 ventilators countrywide for the treatment of COVID patients. Though government through NDMA has taken urgent steps to import necessary medical equipment including ventilator from generous countries such as china to cater for the shortage. However, long supply chain and lack of supply in international market emerged as a big challenge and therefore, Pakistan has not yet been able to complete its deficiency.

In the midst of all this, Federal Minister for science and technology Fawad Chaudhry came up with the idea to produce ventilators, masks, testing kits and other medical tools at domestic level. The idea at first seemed to be a political rhetoric, however, as a pleasant surprise, Pakistan has reached the milestone of developing indigenous ventilators.

These specifically, “Made in Pakistan Ventilators” are portable; they could be operational in ambulances and at homes. Their cost of production and sale price would be less than the market rates. Pakistan Engineers Council team has approved the European standardized manufacturing of these vents.

Federal ministry of science and technology in collaboration with the ministry of defence production initiated the production of ventilators and other electro-Mechanical medical based equipment in National Radio Telecommunication Corporation ( NRTC) and other defence production factories to boost the country’ capital goods. “Freight of twelve ventilators is currently ready to be handed over to National Disaster Management Authority, after which mass production would be started to make up the shortage of ventilators in country”, said Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

The present government is the crown bearer for major development in starting indigenous industry in electro-mechanical medical equipment. Earlier, National University of Science and Technology has also manufactured the corona virus protective gear kits.

Engineers and scientist are being taken on-board to inspect and prepare the essentials against pandemic. They have also developed the oxygenators and testing machines. “We have devised and pilot tested the corona testing tool, that would be able to give results in forty-five minutes” said the Minister Fawad Chaudhry. “Pakistan earned Hundred million dollars through the exports of medical manufactured goods and soon ventilators would add more value to it”, he added.

The country’s best came out in the troubles as Napoleon Bonaparte stated, “It is in times of difficulty that great nations like great men display the whole energy of their character and become an object of admiration to posterity”.  One hope that this rapid pace of this indigenisation will continue and will also be replicated in other sectors to enable Pakistan to earn valuable revenue.

Online Classes and harassment

Is Online Classes Safe for Female Students?

Corona virus crisis has fast tracked the adoption of online education system in Pakistan. Various universities have adopted online system to ensure continuity of education session of their students. Though it is an appreciable step, it has some inherent difficulties such as inaccessibility of technology, lack of internet availability, poor digital provision of subject matter and substandard interactivity with the teachers. Other than the usual problems, online education system has also led to the harassment of female students during the classes.

Various harassment incidents have been reported by female students in virtual sessions. In online meeting apps, the mechanism for classes is to create and share link with all participants. The same links are reportedly shared by some male students with their friends who in turn harass female students during online sessions.

“While interacting during online class, a totally unknown person, messaged me inquiring about my private life”, says one of the female student while addressing the students’ union press conference in Islamabad. “Our social media account IDs get hacked and random men harassed us in all possible ways. Female students are now reluctant to take online classes in this situation”, she added.

Regardless of virtual or interactive classes, learning process requires a peaceful and conducive environment. Any type of harassment can hinder person’s capability of learning and in turn effect his or her overall performance. In face of such online harassment, it is clearly evident that it will affect overall performance of female students keeping them at a clear disadvantage to their male counterparts.

When asked, many female students without revealing their identity stated that they have reported online harassment incidents to the concerned officials including related university administrations but nothing has been done so far.

Some students while expressing their views offered Higher Education Commission to allow them to design safe Official Digital Application for education. “We will develop a Learning Management Application, and its link will not go down even in remote areas. Through this medium, exams and classes ought to be taken easily plus the students belonging to the far-flung regions would also be benefited”, said a computer science student while addressing media.

It must be accepted that introduction of online classes had become compulsion and government had very less time to develop a secure environment for its deployment. However, online system is the future of learning and government should exploit this opportunity to fast track its development and improvement. The system should be able to provide a conducive secure environment to all students in order to ensure equal opportunity to all.

Moreover, administration and government should also improve cyber bullying and harassment reporting system making it less complicated and easy. Any such harassment should be dealt promptly punishing the perpetrators to ensure requisite deterrence.

Tourism amid Corona Crisis

Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced the opening of tourist attraction sites with defined SOPs in northern areas and critics in no time have started censuring the decision terming it premature and aggressive. SOPs have been separately announced for the travellers, host sites, restaurants and transportation. Social distancing, masks and sanitizer have been made compulsory and any violation will cost tourists heavy fines. Local governments have also been made responsible to keep a check on tourists coming to their areas.

Tourism industry as a whole have suffered significantly in the last decade and a half due to long drawn war against terrorism. Present government has invested heavily to improve the image of country in order to attract more tourists. Resultantly, the industry has witnessed a resurgence in past few years, where the number of tourists has grown steadily. In year 2017, 1.75 million tourists visited Pakistan, the tally went up to 1.9 million in 2018 and Pakistan was also named in World’s Top Adventure Travel Destination by British Backpacker Society. In 2019 1.5 billion local and international tourists visited different areas of Pakistan. Pakistan was ranked as World’s Coolest Place to visit by Forbes and was also specified as Best Holiday Destination for 2020.

Amid present circumstances, all industries have suffered huge losses in revenue generation, easing lockdown and allowing some sectors to work seems to be an effort to bolster the economy. Tourism in northern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan is one of the major source of income generation for the local residents, as local and international tourists visits these areas to explore nature. Millions of citizens earn their livelihood by hosting travelers and tourists. In Pakistan, 3.8 Million people are directly or indirectly associated with the tourism industry and it contribute 7.4 percent share in total GDP of country.

Corona pandemic has not only hit urban areas badly but also affected people of northern region as no tourists were allowed due to lockdown in the country. With no treatment or cure in sight, a developing country like Pakistan cannot afford a prolong lockdown. Tourism might sound an extravagance for the people who do not have direct stakes involved, however, a complete ban on tourism is likely to starve the lower class and poor associated with industry. With soaring temperatures in southern parts of the country, these areas receive the bulk of tourists during summers.

Keeping in view corona pandemic situation which might further prolong, a conditional opening of tourist attraction seems to be a sensible decision. Government should put in sustained efforts to create ease for travelers to sustain a constant flow of tourists to keep the local economy running. The announcement is likely to encourage locals to visit these areas, however, a surge in tourism might be witness on occasion of Eid-ul-Fitar. It is imperative to ensure that tourists follow all standard operating procedures during travelling to avoid the spread of corona. This will also help in convincing foreign tourists to travel these areas.