It is heartening to read in the media that Punjab's secretary literacy and non-formal basic education Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik has been given UN's most prestigious 'Confucius Award' by Indian president at an international conference on the topic of 'Women's literacy for inclusive and sustainable development' which was jointly hosted by the Indian government and Unesco.
Ministers and other high dignitaries from E-9 and Saarc countries took part in this conference which held in Delhi in connection with International Literacy Day on September 8. Dr Malik has won this award for using innovative techniques for promoting literacy in the poor strata in Punjab.
It is good news indeed, that Pakistan's efforts for the promotion of education have been recognised by the United Nations. Conferment of this award to a Pakistani bureaucrat is an honour for the whole nation and Malik deserves kudos for his dedicated efforts. This shows that our bureaucracy can bring public-friendly revolution with their innovative initiatives and that's why it's important that they should be given conducive atmosphere to work diligently for the collective welfare of the people.