Social welfare: Registration reform sought for disabled

Participants in policy dialogue call for bigger jobs quota .

FAISALABAD:

There is a dire need for a streamlined procedure for the registration of disabled people so they can get social welfare benefits, said stakeholders at a dialogue on ‘Disabled-friendly Policies’ here on Thursday.

“A one-window operation will resolve the complex requirements for registration faced by persons with disabilities,” said Abad Ali Jaityala, the Kasur district officer for social welfare, at the discussion organised by the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM).

Jaityala said that social welfare departments were often not provided funds for several years for the Disabled Rehabilitation and Training Committee.

AWAM Executive Secretary Naseem Anthony said that Pakistan had ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2011, but was yet to pass the legislation required for compliance. “Even the government officials working on disability issues are totally unaware about the convention,” he said,

AWAM Coordinator Shazia George said that the jobs quota for disabled persons must be increased. Though they constituted 10 per cent of the population, they only had a two per cent quota, she said.

“According to research, around 72 percent of persons with disabilities do not have a disability certificate or a special CNIC, a precondition for getting employment on quota,” she added.

Roshan Sawera Theatre Organisation Director Zubair Sameer also urged persons with disabilities to get involved in the political process and to vote on election day.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2013.