White Cane Day marked in Dera Ghazi Khan

43 visually impaired individuals have been given jobs in six months

DG KHAN/ MULTAN/ FAISALABAD: Around 43 visually impaired people have been given jobs in government departments in the past six months in Dera Ghazi Khan district on the quota reserved for them.

Community Development EDO Farooq Ahmed shared this while speaking at an event organised in connection with White Cane Day, which is marked on October 15 every year all over the world.

The white cane is the white walking stick that holds special significance in the life of visually impaired individuals. A number of seminars, walks and rallies were organised by various welfare organisations in DG Khan, Multan and Faisalabad.

“We are committed to working for the welfare of the visually impaired people. The Punjab government termed them as Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) and have set up 800 VIP centres in DG Khan,” he said.

Similarly, the day was also observed in Faisalabad and an event was organised at National Special Education Center Millat Town.

MNA Begum Khalida Mansoor said the quota for physically-challenged people has been increased to 3% in government jobs. They have also been given a 10-year relaxation in the age limit, she added. Around 10,000 Punjab Khidmat Cards have been issued to these individuals and they also get free of charge medical facilities at all government hospitals, she said. They also get 50% discount for fares in public transport.

In Multan, people belonging to different walks of life took part in a rally held to mark the White Cane Day.

The day has been celebrated every year in the past 52 years across the globe to create awareness among the public about the rights of visually-impaired people.

According to the World Health Organisation, 285 million people are suffering from some sort of visual deficiencies while 39 million of them are completely blind.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2016.