Children in school

Pakistan that has a literacy rate of 58 percent, and 22.84 million children are still out of school – a number that is slightly increasing every year. The tall claims by the previous federal and provincial governments and their unfulfilled promises made things even worse. An ad published on May 21 in this newspaper shows that the national exchequer is suffering an annual loss of Rs44 billion due to the illicit trade of cigarettes, which if saved can help 2.5 million children to go to school every year. The new government of Pakistan was elected with its promise to end corruption, improve the standards of school and help children go to school. So Prime Minister Imran Khan must pay immediate attention to the huge losses being caused by the tax-evading tobacco product manufacturers, as this particular industry in Pakistan has become Asia’s biggest illegal-trade market.The local manufactures are not only selling cigarettes below the government stated lowest price, they are also giving different discounts, giveaways and instant cash back offers – which encourages people to buy more. The prime minister must take strict action against this illegal trade, to save the government’s resources, protect future of the young generation and increase the literacy rate of Pakistan. If this works for the next five years, around 12.5 million children would be in school.Siraj Muneer SoomroKarachi

from The News International - Newspost http://bit.ly/2HH4FUJ