DAWN Editorials 30th July 2026

Debt that stays

THE power sector’s circular debt grew by Rs61bn in the last fiscal year, taking the total to roughly Rs1.67tr from Rs1.61tr a year before. This breaches the IMF funding programme condition to cap the stock at Rs1.61tr.

The Power Division blames a federal subsidy cut: Rs98bn was trimmed from the Rs893bn allocated for the sector, and officials say the debt would have fallen to Rs1.58tr without that cut. Perhaps so. But the explanation says more about the system’s fragility than its own defence. A power sector that needs fiscal transfers just to avoid piling up fresh arrears was never built to stand on its own. Successive governments have tried nearly everything.

Power purchase agreements with independent producers have been renegotiated more than once. Old, inefficient plants have shut down. Tariffs have climbed sharply. Banks have stepped in with fresh loans. Last year’s Rs1.23tr financing deal with 18 banks, serviced through a Rs3.23-per-unit surcharge on consumers, was billed as the largest such transaction in the country’s history. None of it has stopped the debt from growing again. Debt keeps moving from one ledger to another; it does not disappear.

The government’s claim that distribution losses are falling deserves credit. Disco losses have dropped from Rs591bn to Rs326bn over two years, a welcome improvement. But it sits awkwardly next to a system that needs higher tariffs, bigger subsidies and fresh borrowing every year just to keep functioning. Consumers cannot be expected to absorb the constant surcharges and rate hikes.

Meanwhile, rooftop solar has exacerbated the situation for the regulators. While grid electricity grows pricier, solar panels keep getting cheaper. Anyone who can afford its upfront cost is quietly moving towards solar. The exponential growth in net-metered and off-grid solar capacity leaves the grid’s fixed costs resting on a shrinking pool of consumers who cannot afford to leave. And every fresh tariff hike gives the next affluent household a reason to instal panels of their own. Hence, fewer paying customers, higher bills for those who remain, and more reason to exit. The loop feeds itself.

None of this is really about debt. Bank loans, surcharges and balance sheet swaps may slash or even wipe out the existing stock, but if the leaks that create new debt stay open, debt piles up again. Those leaks are well known: distribution losses, transmission bottlenecks, weak bill recovery, dependence on imported fuels, theft and power-purchase contracts written on assumptions that no longer hold. Raising tariffs simply delays the day the bill comes due. The government must start treating power, gas and oil as a connected system, since a subsidy shortfall in one, a tariff decision in another, or an import bill spike in the third eventually show up as fresh circular debt somewhere down the line again.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2026

HIV warning

THE HIV infections detected around two SESSI-run hospitals in Karachi demand far more than another hurried committee and a seven-day report. Ten people have tested positive near the Landhi facility, while screening around Valika Hospital has identified 120 cases, including children. These figures do not by themselves prove hospital transmission; epidemiological links must be established carefully. Yet the detection of cases among particularly vulnerable patients, combined with concerns about reused syringes, poorly sterilised instruments, unsafe blood practices and mismanaged medical waste, makes an independent investigation indispensable. The Pakistan Medical Association is therefore right to seek a judicial inquiry. Internal probes have too often produced reports, suspensions and promises, only for unsafe practices to persist. A credible inquiry must trace each patient’s treatment history, verify laboratory findings, inspect procurement records and determine whether disposable equipment was available and actually used. It should examine private clinics, dental practices, blood banks and laboratories as well as public hospitals. Responsibility must extend beyond any individual who reused an instrument to administrators who ignored warnings, contractors who supplied substandard materials and regulators who failed to inspect facilities.

The Ratodero tragedy of 2019, in which hundreds of children were infected, showed how unsafe medical care could drive HIV transmission, yet weak surveillance, low testing and poor treatment coverage still allow the virus to spread silently. The immediate response should include screening of potentially exposed patients, confirmatory testing, counselling and free lifelong antiretroviral therapy. Children and families must not be publicly identified, stigmatised or treated as suspects, and compensation should follow where healthcare-related transmission is proved. But screening alone is not prevention. Sindh needs unannounced inspections, enforceable infection-control audits, reliable supplies of auto-disable syringes, strict blood-screening standards and licensing action against unsafe practitioners. The authorities must also strengthen biomedical-waste management, train staff repeatedly and publish inspection findings so that compliance can be independently monitored. A province-wide health emergency may be warranted, but it must produce sustained reform rather than political theatre. Hospitals cannot be permitted to become vectors of incurable disease. Restoring public trust requires the resolve to correct a system that has repeatedly failed those who entered it seeking care.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2026

End trafficking

MODERN slavery, in the form of human trafficking, is among the state’s gravest failures. Scores of Pakistanis are trafficked annually, yet the conviction rate for those who traffick them remains low. This World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, under the theme ‘Trapped behind a scam’, focuses on the rising “form of trafficking in persons for forced criminality”. It is linked to financial scams, corruption, money-laundering and cybercrime. The UN drugs and crime agency says that, at present, over 300,000 people are stuck in Southeast Asia’s scam centres. While the region has long been a hub of the menace, the extent of the criminal network became apparent last year when victims from 80 countries were identified. UNODC wants more measures, including cross-border judicial and law-enforcement support, to protect victims and dismantle transnational crime rings.

Human traffickers thrive amidst conflict and socioeconomic despair. Desperate people fall for fake job offers placed through ‘legal’ companies, followed by ‘professional’ interviews and contracts. But their destination is a cruel scam compound where they face isolation, threats, debt bondage, torture and sexual abuse. Pakistan should take this as a warning, and collaborate with Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka in their attempts to end this kind of trafficking. For this, it is essential for the state to accept that a culture of impunity is forcing the poor out. Besides the lack of job opportunities, corrupt officers, legal loopholes, political patronage and weak enforcement of the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2018, and the Prevention of Smuggling of Migrants Act, 2018, create miserable conditions. The need for reforms is dire, as is the training and resourcing of security forces — all focused on victim safety and rehabilitation. The brutality of human trade does not invite public outrage because the government has been unsuccessful in raising awareness. As a result, the country has compromised cititzens’ safety and diminished its international image.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2026