People are talking about —

— after an extravagant wedding across the border caught global attention, an important member of a provincial government stated he wished to see the same kind of occasions here to highlight Pakistan’s attractions to the world. People wonder how someone in a responsible position could think of such an option when we are in debt; battling inflation and running from pillar to post seeking monetary aid – not to say anything about how we don’t lack in vulgar and wasteful displays of wealth.

— shelter homes which are working at the government and non-government level for rearing abandoned, destitute and orphaned children, yet no government agency has any record of these shelters, since a large number of them are not registered with the Child Protection Bureau (CPB) despite legal requirement. People say unfortunately some people have used the excuse of providing shelter to children as a way to hide their ill-gotten wealth, so it is the responsibility of the bureau to register all such institutions.

— the report that thousands of closed or dysfunctional schools, along with thousands of ‘ghost’ or absent teachers in the country are present and ‘active’ in official files, while in a few, students spend time in classrooms without any teacher bothering to conduct a proper class as there is no monitoring mechanism in place, even the biometric attendance system has failed to check teacher absenteeism and something needs to be done urgently to reform the system.

— the highly inflated electricity bills which are being sent to consumers these days when no fans or air-conditioners are being used and how there is no way to check if they are genuine as the pictures of meter readings are unclear and no meter readings can be seen on them. People say this unethical system that make the public suspicious of the intent behind inflated bills and wonder how long this system will go on to strain their family budget.

— the news that the Punjab government is planning to grant free solar panels with inverters and batteries up to 1kW to households using less than a hundred electricity units monthly through balloting but there is a chance that all the deserving people will not be able to benefit, so all those whose rooftops are suitable, should get them. As the solar panels will be connected to the national grid, the excess energy, if any, will flow to the system, thereby benefitting the power service providers as well.

— the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) which has earned respect and appreciation for having provided valuable services to marginalised communities and how, despite its success, it has not been further replicated in other villages or semi-urban and squatter settlements across urban areas People say it is unfortunate that local governments and civil society organisations do not support the replication of such schemes, ultimately creating environmental and social issues like urban and rural flooding caused by improper sanitation systems and unavailability of drainage.

— the propensity of building mosques and other structures in parks and the decision taken by the courts not to allow any building/construction in recreational and green spaces of which there are very few for citizens to enjoy for rest, recreation and recuperation, especially those who live in concrete jungles. People say if construction of any kind has to be done it should be in other available places and not those that provide relief to the public for the good of their health.