This is in reference with Senate Committee on Aviation’s, headed by Senator Mushahid Ullah, indefensible act of questioning PIAC management for their legal sacking of employees who submitted fake degrees. One wonders why elected and paid elite of this country prefer to seek medical treatment from abroad, while finding fault in termination of a few employees who were involved in criminal act of presenting fake degrees for jobs which should have been given to more qualified individuals.

There was a time when Pakistan had the sole distinction of having one of the two medical universities in the Sub-continent at the time of partition, apart from other institutions of credibility like Government College Lahore, FCC, and King Edward College etc. Unfortunately, instead of improvements in education sector that would help produce qualified men and women to keep in pace with development in science, technology, medical education, economics etc., the State failed to clamp down on fake degree manufacturing criminal activities such as Axact, which resulted in doubts about those with genuine qualifications.

There is no dearth of qualified and educated talent in this country which has produced scientists of international repute and economists. It is human resource development of countries with scarce natural resources which has resulted in development of countries like Japan, Singapore, and South Korea in Asia.

PIA, in spite of abundance of ethnic local passengers, has deteriorated because of incompetence and mediocrity, apart from pilferage and corruption that has brought it to brink of insolvency. The national airline needs to sack all fake degree holders as well as others facing criminal charges involved in smuggling and corrupt practices. The Senate should be involved in ridding not just PIA but all state owned institutions of such criminals who submit fake degrees.

ANEELA CHANDIO,

Sukkur, March 8.