For the visually impaired: LHC issues notice on plea for job quota
Petition says Pakistan has no idea how to deal with differently-abled people
PHOTO: EXPRESS
LAHORE:
Justice Shujaat Ali Khan of the Lahore High Court issued a notice to the Punjab government on a petition seeking an order to grant jobs to visually-impaired people who are protesting on the road for their rights.
Judicial Activism Panel, the petitioning NGO, filed the plea through its counsel. It was stated that every state deals with special people by taking the utmost care, but the situation is different in Pakistan. He added the visually-impaired are running from pillar to post for their basic rights.
The lawyer claimed the bureaucracy and executives are trying to create hurdles in the process of appointments for special persons, despite the Constitution guaranteeing equal rights of them.
He pointed out that blind persons had assembled at Kalma Chowk and blocked the Metro Bus Track, demanding regularization of their services and a quota in jobs. The protesters also chanted slogans against the provincial government. He pointed out that it is the part of record that blind persons had been protesting for the last three years, but the government paid no heed to their rightful demands.
He said the government was playing tactics with innocent people by not confirming them as permanent employees. The counselor added that authorities even failed to release the salaries of daily wagers on time. He said although the LHC had given orders to give the rights to visually challenged people, it seemed court orders had no bearing on the bureaucracy and executives.
The petition stated that the provincial government was investing billions in various flop projects like the Orange Line Metro Train, solar power projects and coal power projects in Punjab. However, it was doing nothing for differently-abled people and had not even creating regulation for job quotas.
The counselor said it was the responsibility of the government to take the necessary steps to provide the best facilities for visually-impaired people. He asked that the court accept the application and order the government of Punjab, including the chief executive and cabinet, to settle the demands of blind persons. He asked that articles 9,14,18,25 and 38 of the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 be enforced to this effect. He asked that appropriate also be taken against the chief executive and other for their failure to enforce the fundamental rights of visually-impaired persons.
On Saturday, dozens of visually-impaired persons, who had been staging a sit-in at Metro Bus Service near Kalma Chowk for over a week, disappeared mysteriously on Saturday night.
The metro bus authority and the City District Government expressed ignorance about their leaving the venue. The metro bus service resumed its operations fully on Sunday as it remained interrupted for over a week causing not only nuisance to the commuters but also a huge financial loss to the government’s exchequer.
A group of the protesters from different districts of Punjab had gathered outside the Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Saturday (May 12) and staged a sit-in for their rights. After few hours of the protest, when no authorities responded to their demands, they headed towards Kalma Chowk Bus Station of the metro, their favourite spot for the last few years.
The protesters continued staging a sit-in day and night for over a week. Their sit-in had disrupted the flow of the bus service and caused a massive nuisance to the thousands of commuters who use to travel throughout the city using the service.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2018.
Justice Shujaat Ali Khan of the Lahore High Court issued a notice to the Punjab government on a petition seeking an order to grant jobs to visually-impaired people who are protesting on the road for their rights.
Judicial Activism Panel, the petitioning NGO, filed the plea through its counsel. It was stated that every state deals with special people by taking the utmost care, but the situation is different in Pakistan. He added the visually-impaired are running from pillar to post for their basic rights.
The lawyer claimed the bureaucracy and executives are trying to create hurdles in the process of appointments for special persons, despite the Constitution guaranteeing equal rights of them.
He pointed out that blind persons had assembled at Kalma Chowk and blocked the Metro Bus Track, demanding regularization of their services and a quota in jobs. The protesters also chanted slogans against the provincial government. He pointed out that it is the part of record that blind persons had been protesting for the last three years, but the government paid no heed to their rightful demands.
He said the government was playing tactics with innocent people by not confirming them as permanent employees. The counselor added that authorities even failed to release the salaries of daily wagers on time. He said although the LHC had given orders to give the rights to visually challenged people, it seemed court orders had no bearing on the bureaucracy and executives.
The petition stated that the provincial government was investing billions in various flop projects like the Orange Line Metro Train, solar power projects and coal power projects in Punjab. However, it was doing nothing for differently-abled people and had not even creating regulation for job quotas.
The counselor said it was the responsibility of the government to take the necessary steps to provide the best facilities for visually-impaired people. He asked that the court accept the application and order the government of Punjab, including the chief executive and cabinet, to settle the demands of blind persons. He asked that articles 9,14,18,25 and 38 of the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 be enforced to this effect. He asked that appropriate also be taken against the chief executive and other for their failure to enforce the fundamental rights of visually-impaired persons.
On Saturday, dozens of visually-impaired persons, who had been staging a sit-in at Metro Bus Service near Kalma Chowk for over a week, disappeared mysteriously on Saturday night.
The metro bus authority and the City District Government expressed ignorance about their leaving the venue. The metro bus service resumed its operations fully on Sunday as it remained interrupted for over a week causing not only nuisance to the commuters but also a huge financial loss to the government’s exchequer.
A group of the protesters from different districts of Punjab had gathered outside the Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Saturday (May 12) and staged a sit-in for their rights. After few hours of the protest, when no authorities responded to their demands, they headed towards Kalma Chowk Bus Station of the metro, their favourite spot for the last few years.
The protesters continued staging a sit-in day and night for over a week. Their sit-in had disrupted the flow of the bus service and caused a massive nuisance to the thousands of commuters who use to travel throughout the city using the service.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2018.