Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
By: Imdad Baloch
World in the 21st first century is in the age of enlightenment and learning. People in the world are searching for all possible ways to achieve objectives of the learning and enlightenment. They are working day and night to produce learning environment on internet; in schools, colleges, universities, museums and libraries. Their learning institutions are whole-heartedly owned as precious assets by the society altoghater and the learning institutions throughout the world are providing services to the society round the clock. Moreover, there is proper maintenance of these institutions.
Whereas, we, as a nation, have criminally closed our eyes from educational institutions. There is no proper attention to these institutions and society does not own the institutions as important liabilities. One of similarly shattered learning institutions of ours is the Pakistan Peoples Library Kalat which came into being in 2002. It was a highly commendable step towards enlightening people of Kalat, a more backward district of Balochistan province. The library consists of vast boundary with a main library room, a computer section, having no computers, and a room for the librarian. Hundreds of students come to library for their studies from different areas of Kalat city. They consider this library the most appealing place for their studies.
Unfortunately, PPL library Kalat is presently facing many crises. There are hurdles that hamper the creativity and production of the students. The library is facing following crisis:
In 2004, the charges of the library were handed over taken to the district Education Department. Ever since its initial times, the education department ironically neglected the library. The bills of electricity and gas as well as of the Newspapers and magazines are not paid on regular basis. As a result, these utilities and services are not provided to the institution.
These is lack of fresh books. There are only old novels, religious books, and other obsolete books. Whereas, it lacks books like that of natural sciences, social sciences, humanities art and literature, competitive exams, languages and so on.
The library has only one bathroom in librarian’s room. The students use that bathroom which creates disturbance for both the librarian as well as the students. There is dire need of a separate bathroom.
There is too the need of a kitchen. Currently library has no kitchen. In state of having a guest, one needs to bring eatables from the market. Students too are even unable to make a cup of tea for themselves.
And finally, the library has the water crisis, water tank due to no regular maintenance, has got cracks and does not store water which creates much difficulty for the members of the library.
It is the time we valued our educational institutions and paid special attention on their proper maintenance and made every factor of the production available in them. Either we choose to value the institutions and bless the society with education or we let the institutions the way they are and throw the society in darkness of ignorance, the choice is ours!
The writer is a student of BS Economics at Govt College Kalat.
Published in The Balochistan Point on October 29, 2018
