KARACHI   -  President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday said that the world was changing and the new world was all about the science, technology, mathematics and so on. 

He stated this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the TDF Magnifi Science Centre (MSC) here where First Lady Samina Alvi was also present.

President Alvi said that this project would help encourage the students to come towards scientific studies. He said that we had become aware of the situation as far as the education was concerned. He said that the quality of education was more significant than the structure of a building.

He further said that what we had to teach in schools was the analytical skill to handle and to weight today’s problems or today’s incidents and daily decisions in life. The president said, ‘My fascination with science is tremendous.’

Alvi said that a child held the fascination for science or anything else more at the minor age but as he grew by time the fascination started reducing at diminishing level. He said that the things were changing and the field of education was very wide but our fascination with it was limited. 

He further said that scientific fairs were methods through which the children could be encouraged to look into science. Later, the President inaugurated the TDF Magnifi Science Centre (MSC) and visited it. He also congratulated the Chairman of TDF Hussain Dawood for establishing the MSC.

FIO plays vital role in providing prompt justice to complainants 

Appreciating the performance of Federal Insurance Ombudsman (FIO), President Arif Alvi said that the FIO played a significant role in providing free-of-charge and prompt justice to the complainants against the injustices done to them. It had settled a large number of complaints amicably with consent of both parties i.e insurance policy holders and insurance companies. 

Addressing the seminar titled “Importance of Transparency in Insurance Sector” organised by Federal Insurance Ombudsman here at Governor House, on Saturday, he apprised that last year, FIO had provided the monetary relief worth of Rs410 million to complainants and this year figure of the monetary relief registered an increase to Rs2.13 billion. This figure of monetary relief is expected to rise to Rs2.30 billion in next year, he told.

The success of the FIO in providing speedy and cost-free justice to complainants caused a rise in registration of complaints by 50 percent when compared it with last year, he said, adding disposal of the complaints was 90 percent. Of total registered, more than 90 percent of cases were being handled within 60 days, the President recounted. Besides, the FIO has handled the issue of mis-selling wisely.

Expressing concerns over the less awareness among the public about ombudsman, Alvi mentioned that hardly, 4 to 5 percent of people were aware about the ombudsman and emphasised the need for creating awareness through media about the services being provided by the institution for the relief of the complainants.

Realising the potential of insurance sector, the President informed that the agriculture sector should be focused as insurance companies should develop products for this sector. More than 60 percent of people are associated with this sector and they should be covered under insurance plans.

On the risk factors, he said that the risk sharing was very important and it should be shared among stakeholders. As the government has introduced health card to cover or share the risks.    On the scams, he told that banks should aware the public through the SMS and calls about the scams, saying that the scammers were minting money through different techniques.

Assuring the Federal Insurance Ombudsman of his full support and cooperation in the performance of his duties, the President underscored the need for further intensifying the efforts by the Ombudsman to provide maximum relief to the aggrieved policyholders against the malpractices.

Federal Insurance Ombudsman, Dr Muhammad Khawar Jameel said the contribution of insurance sector to the national GDP was low and efforts were taken to increase its contribution to national exchequer.

He said that a major chunk of complaints was relating to bank insurance, adding that a bank manager has become a sales agent of insurance policies under the scheme, which is not part of his job description. It is also highly unfortunate that a bank manager distorts facts to banking customers regarding the insurance schemes to trap innocent customers. 

He said he had approached to the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Pakistan Banks’ Association to take stock of the situation and save policy holders from fraudulent activities.

Later, President Alvi handed over the claim settlement cheques to the complainants.