Programs For The Next Millennium 

THE HELPLINE TRUST

Aims and Objectives

The Help line Trust was borne out of the needs for GOOD GOVERNANCE, THE RULE OF LAW and ACCOUNTABILITY in public institutions, at a time when Law and Order situation deteriorated in Karachi. The Help line Trust was established in 1994, and took up the challenge of improving the quality of life of the citizens of Karachi. We decided that the only way to achieve this was to demand and advocate Good Governance. To accomplish this, we initiated efforts at formal and informal levels to draws the attention of government and concerned citizens to the corruption and mismanagement in government departments, the misuse and abuse of authority and funds, establish accountability, a code of conduct and respect for citizen's right.

We have chosen mobilisation of public opinion, civil action, lobbying and legal struggle as our tools for change. We have aimed our efforts at persuading and  influencing those in government, politics and society to improve the quality of life for citizens.

We have solicited active contribution from all strata of society, be they individuals, groups, institutions and media. We have aimed, over the time through our campaigns, to enhance awareness among citizens and encourage them to realise their responsibilities towards society and activity assess their contributions in fulfilling them. We have made demands of this politico-legal system and tried to rouse it from its deep slumber by raising issues that were hitherto ignored.

Accomplishments & Ongoing Projects

 We have organized forums on Save Karachi, The Citizens' Charter, The Collapse of State and Society etc. and were encouraged by the healthy attendance in these forums. We have taken up issues of Accountability, An Independent Judiciary, Rule of Law, Code of Conduct, Consumer Protection Bill, Freedom of Information, Police and Judicial Reforms etc. in our bid to achieve Good Governance for citizens.

We have tried to organise innovative programs for public participation which include Adopt-A-School program, Traffic Improvement Program for a safer and better Karachi and Consumer Protection Campaign as a part of which a Consumer Protection Ordinance  has already been presented  to the Governor. We have also launched The Patient Right Awareness Campaign and we will prepare a Patients' Rights Act for the protection of Patients Rights. Shortly, there will be a board based executive committee to over see the protection of patients Rights. Another feature of our public participation programme is Straight Talk, a monthly discussion programme on national and social issue, which will be a regular feature. The Help line Trust has also filed public interest litigation against the payment of VCR and Dish Antenna license fees in the High Court of Sindh. To convey our message, we have even launched our own newsletter The Citizen, which is distributed free of cost. 

In spite of financial constraints and restrictions imposed by the Education Department we have launched our Education Improvement Programme, which includes improving the existing facilities in the school i.e. repair of the building, provision of equipment in the laboratories and libraries, addition of additional class rooms, and furniture for the class rooms. These facilities have been provided to 30 adopted schools at a cost of Rs. 2 million. This programme is being further extended to improve the quality of education in these schools by launching a more comprehensive Education Improvement Programme with the permission and assistance of the Department. 

The Heritage Helpline is a programme to save buildings/ monuments of historical and architectural value in Karachi and surroundings areas. Kothari Parade, Clifton has been taken as our first project under the direct supervision of technical experts, in three phases. In the first phase it will be renovated to its original glory, the second phase would be to organise the traffic around the Parade and its continues maintenance and in the third phase facilities and the environments for the visitors and the venders will be improved.

Unfortunately in Pakistan we have a wealth of writers, advisors and think tanks, but very few are willing to put their words into action. We, the Citizens, who have the most to loose in this situation, seem to be the least concerned. Responsible and concerned citizens refuse to play their role in society and break the status quo, therefore, no visible and effective changes for the better have taken place. In spite of this fact we are not the ones who give up so easily; we would continue tirelessly with our efforts to promote Good Governance and we are quite confident that there are still a majority of concerned citizens who share our views wholeheartedly and would like to participate in our efforts.