Providing opportunities for the differently-abled

A society’s progress in social welfare can be gauged from the extent to which differently-abled persons are put in productive roles. A society which understands the importance of social welfare of disabled persons is consistent in its efforts in making them physically and financially independent.

However, in poverty-stricken societies like Pakistan, where literacy levels are low and development projects have not taken off, treatment of differently-abled individuals leaves a lot to be desired. For these persons, social disparity starts from within their family, where they are often treated as a social disgrace, an outcast, or a financial burden.

The fear that people will avoid establishing relations with a family because it has a differently-abled child prevents parents from revealing the births of disabled children. The fear that people would not want to marry their daughters or sons is another point of concern for the family that has a differently-abled child, as there is often concern that the disability may be carried forward through genes on to the next generation.

Recently, different reports have revealed that the ratio of differently-abled persons is quite high in Pakistan. The terror-hit province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has the highest number of disabled persons, with Punjab ranked second, Sindh third and Balochistan fourth. There is little legislation in place anywhere to address the issues faced by differently-abled persons. Despite the allocation of two per cent quota in government jobs for differently-abled people, successive governments have failed to take the initiative in facilitating these individuals.

Despite the presence of social disparities and governmental negligence, whenever such individuals have been provided with opportunities, they have proved themselves to be very productive members of their families, society and country. We have before us the example of Professor Aamir Hanif, who suffered visual impairment soon after birth. He is a living legend. He is one of the first differently-abled PhD scholars in Pakistan. For him, the obstacle wasn’t his being differently-abled as he had the drive to achieve success in life. The obstacles he faced were in the form of social barriers and lack of opportunities, and that is something that needs to be addressed.

The International Day for Persons with Disabilities was recently observed on December 3, which could have been a good opportunity for the government to show its seriousness about creating more opportunities for the disabled. But that was not to be. We need federal and provincial governments to eradicate the social problems and prejudice that differently-abled persons have to face on a daily basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th,  2015.