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Papers by Muhammad Bilal Saeed

A research paper assessing the wage structure in Pakistan with respect to real wage, minimum wage... more A research paper assessing the wage structure in Pakistan with respect to real wage, minimum wage and living wage, under different occupational groups and industries. Study done under a gender lens and specifically focusing on females in elementary occupations.
Data taken from Labour Force Survey 2014-15.

Assessing the efficiency of question hour in Punjab Assembly during fourth parliamentary year (20... more Assessing the efficiency of question hour in Punjab Assembly during fourth parliamentary year (2011-2012)

A number of countries in South Asia have enacted Right to Information (RTI) legislation guarantee... more A number of countries in South Asia have enacted Right to Information (RTI) legislation guaranteeing citizens the right to access information from their governments. However, levels of public awareness, implementation, and demand-led use of RTI vary across the region, even as citizens are increasingly sensitive to corruption and the lack of transparency in government. While there have been a number of efforts to promote the sharing of knowledge and good practices among RTI activists, civil society organizations, and government officials in the region, there has been limited investigation of the key factors that enable or prevent the effective implementation of RTI in countries in the region, with the exception of India.
This Regional Synthesis Report brings together information collected through country diagnostic studies conducted by The Asia Foundation in partnership with civil society organizations in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The country diagnostic studies analyse the state of citizens’ access to information, and the implementation and use of RTI legislation in these countries. The findings from the country studies were presented at a regional workshop in Kathmandu for
feedback and discussion of recommendations for country-specific and regional interventions to improve access to information in South Asia.

Right to Information (RTI) laws, also known as Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, serve as essent... more Right to Information (RTI) laws, also known as Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, serve as essential instruments to provide people access to information (ATI) held by their governments. They enable people to be aware of their entitlements so that they can demand for the fulfilment of those rights. Access to information enables people to meaningfully participate in the affairs of the country. It helps citizens keep a check on governmental policies and actions and voice their concerns when their needs are not met. RTI has been acknowledged as a tool for ensuring good governance through invoking transparency. It is an underpinning of democracy and, therefore, is recognised as an essential feature of democratic societies of the world. It assists in alleviating poverty, ensures sustainable development and helps in realising other fundamental rights.

Teaching Documents by Muhammad Bilal Saeed

CPDI has been engaged in advocating and supporting community policing in Pakistan for over a deca... more CPDI has been engaged in advocating and supporting community policing in Pakistan for over a decade. Based upon our experience of conducting training programmes and research studies on community policing, we can say with confidence that there are two major hurdles in implementing community policing in the country. First is the lack of analysis into the already undertaken initiatives to find their positive aspects and shortcomings. Second is the absence of any indigenously produced guidance manual that lays down the implementation framework by reflecting upon the country dynamics and situation on ground.
CPDI recognizes that community policing is a complete philosophy and that moulding it into a concrete programme is a complex task. The conversion of community policing philosophy into programmes at different places requires different strategies as goals to be achieved for each locality are different and police needs to tackle unique challenges in each area, which makes the process ever the more difficult. However, based upon our experience and after a careful scrutiny of the pros and cons of various community policing programmes implemented in Pakistan, a flexible guidance framework of community policing is presented here to enable ease of understanding and implementation.
This handbook is developed as a simplified practical guide for those police officials who are interested in understanding and implementing community policing in their respective geographical precincts. The handbook is also intended to be of interest for civil society and citizens of Pakistan who want to see policing evolve into a public friendly and citizen responsive service and who want to learn about the ways and means through which community policing can be implemented to proactively address root cause of problems in the society. Although, the information presented in the handbook would be equally beneficial for citizens, public and all police officials, however, the handbook is designed keeping the District Police Officers (DPOs) specifically in focus. The reason to keep the DPOs as the focal point is because we believe that the district is a practical unit from which community policing efforts can be initiated and for that reason DPOs are the right audience - due to their decision making authority and autonomy to advance community policing in their respective districts. Moreover, once successful models and case studies of community policing start emerging at the district level, other DPOs are likely to be inspired and follow course. In this manner, community policing would spread like an algae, wherein successful models and practices would be replicated across districts and concrete results of the initiative would act as the driver of the movement in Pakistan.

Frequently harassed, threatened, abducted, and even murdered- journalists in Pakistan have suffer... more Frequently harassed, threatened, abducted, and even murdered- journalists in Pakistan have suffered tremendously, and still do so, in the course of performing their professional duties over more than a decade. While journalism as a profession has witnessed enormous growth and progress over the past decade, nevertheless, safety of journalists and issue of impunity still remains largely devoid of much needed attention by the government. Moreover, journalists, more prominently the free lancers, are not provided adequate protection, training and security by the media houses and newspaper agencies they work for. Working without the provision of any safety-supportive mechanisms by the government and journalists employee organizations that is coupled with excessively vulnerable and conflict ridden environments from where they repot from, journalism can rightly be regarded as one of the most dangerous professions in Pakistan.
Although, debates on journalists safety and issues of impunity have picked up pace in the past couple of years and changes in legislative mechanism can be hoped for in the not so distant future, a lot still needs to be done on immediate basis to alleviate the loss of lives of these torch bearers of freedom of expression. Civil society has a vital role to play in terms of pushing the government for the enactment of adequate legislative mechanisms for journalists’ safety and issues of impunity. Moreover, no less important is the provision of physical safety trainings to the 18,000 or more journalists currently working in Pakistan.
This manual is intended to serve as a training resource for journalists on themes related to physical safety in the context of Pakistan’s environment. The manual is divided into seven sections; each section comprises smaller units-modules -that are designed to be covered in a two-day workshop. Each module provides its learning objective and lays out the teaching aids required, the time frame required to complete it and the methodology the trainer should adopt to impart the training. Moreover relevant case studies, handouts, and material for further study is also presented for the reader.
The manual goes in a flow by introducing the media safety landscape in Pakistan through a snapshot of vital statistics and severity of issues in different regions across Pakistan. In the second section, the manual discusses the rights and legal cover for journalists in Pakistan by presenting an insight into both the international obligations as well as the national legislative framework. In the third section, the manual provides a discussion into the important topics of Conflict sensitivity, journalist objectivity and safety and the inter-linkages between the three. The fourth, fifth and sixth sections of the manual are directly related with preparation before assignment, what to do during the assignment, and post assignment measures respectively. Finally the last section dealing with cyber security depicts the strong link between digital and physical security and the protective measures one can adopt to decrease vulnerability.