Misuse of public money: Workshop or summer trip to a resort town?

Newly-formed department decides to take officials on a fully-paid trip to Bhurban

KARACHI: It looks like the Sindh government’s Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities has gotten its priorities right. Without even setting up its basic bodies as per the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2018, the newly-established department has recently planned to conduct a “workshop on sign language” for some of its officers - that too in the resort town of Bhurban.

The department has formally invited tenders for the said event through an official advertisement and, according to official sources, Rs2 million will be spent on the two-day workshop, together with an additional Rs1 million set aside for the airfares and other expenses of the participating officers. Although a date has not been finalised, sources revealed that the event will take place in the coming month of June.



Established under the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2018 in June last year, the new department replaced the former Sindh Special Education Department. Per the Act, the purpose of creating the department was to take steps for the equal rights of persons with disabilities and provide them free-of-cost legal support as well as the protection and rehabilitation of disabled persons in risk and disaster situations.

Lagging behind

The law also required the provincial government to establish a provincial advisory council, an authority for the protection of rights of persons with disabilities, and other such bodies. However, none of these bodies has been formed to date.

According to the law, the provincial advisory council was supposed to be formed “to advise the government on policies, programmes, legislation and projects for the well-being of the disabled population” and to take all necessary steps for the protection of rights of persons with disabilities. Similarly, it was fundamental to form the authority for the timely implementation of policies and the execution of departmental functions.

According to the additional secretary of the Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Abu Bakar, drafted rules will soon be sent to the Law Department after completing the ongoing review process.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Abu Bakar further detailed that the Law Department will forward the drafted rules to the Sindh Cabinet for formal approval, after which the advisory council will be established.

“A summary pertaining to the formation of the advisory council has also been sent by the department to the chief minister of Sindh for approval,” he explained. “Hopefully, both the bodies will be established and become functional by July this year.”

Meanwhile, the secretary of the department Khalid Chachar defended the idea of organising the workshop on sign language in Bhurban and dispelled the impression of visiting a summer resort on public expenses. Talking to The Express Tribune, he said that participants from different parts of the country, including Islamabad and Peshawar, are scheduled to attend the workshop, therefore, the selected venue will be convenient for all the participants.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2019.