ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has said that neither Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will resign nor the assemblies will be dissolved.
"There is a need for a national dialogue on electoral reforms, but it is up to Prime Minister Imran Khan to decide when and how to engage the opposition in dialogue," the president said this, while in an informal conversation with senior journalists after a meeting with them here on Monday on the issue of persons with disabilities.
Informally discussing the political situation, the president said that political tension in the country would ease in the coming days. He said that the demand of the opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to resign from the government was unjustified.
"The prime minister is saying that the opposition is seeking National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) but the opposition is saying that we are not asking for NRO. In these circumstances, the debate on NRO has intensified but national dialogue is impossible without National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and anti-corruption agenda, because the only point of the PTI government is a corruption-free Pakistan. The political system is being de-stabilised for the last two years. In this situation, national dialogue on electoral reform is a matter of urgency," the president said.
He said that talks were held with Prime Minister Imran Khan on a daily basis, and every day contact was maintained between the president and the prime minister.
He said, "Nowadays, the prime minister and I are reading books on Islamic history. Often, the prime minister explains important issues to me."
Answering a question, the president said that our position on non-recognition of Israel was clear. He said that there was no foreign pressure on the government to recognise Israel. The reports of a government representative visiting Israel are baseless, he said.
Talking about Balochistan, he claimed that India's hand was involved in 99 percent terror incidents and efforts to destabilise Balochistan.
"India is openly against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is plotting against it," he said.
Earlier, President Alvi urged the media to play its role for the rights of special persons and eradicating negative attitudes towards them in the society. He expressed these views in his meeting with senior journalists on the issue of persons with disabilities.
The president said the government was taking all possible steps to make special persons active members of the society. He said the government was taking steps to provide free education to special persons from primary level to university level, and under the Ehsaas programme, two million special persons would be assisted.
The president said the incumbent government had signed a memorandum of understanding with China under the Belt and Road Project to promote and develop technology for the assistance of special persons. The president said that there was lack of accurate statistics on special persons.
In this regard, the survey conducted under the Ehsaas programme will be completed in June 2021. He appreciated the role of media in creating awareness about breast cancer and women's rights.
He said though the number of special persons showed in the census was two percent, but according to a survey the real number of persons with disabilities in the country was 15 percent, and they lacked appropriate facilities. He said with the minimum reported numbers, the special persons had to face difficulties in registration with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra), adding, there was a need to make the procedure simple and easy.
The president said that as the special persons besides difficulties in mobility also had to face discrimination and negative attitudes in the society, the media could play its role to discourage such attitudes.
"We have to be compassionate about special persons," he stressed.
The president stressed providing education to physically disabled and also the persons with visual and hearing impairment at regular schools instead of separate institutions, which resulted in their detachment from mainstream society.
He said free education for special persons from primary to university level was under consideration, while efforts were afoot to also provide them professional and technical skills.
He said that special persons were playing an important role in national development and mentioned that their contribution had also been acknowledged through conferment of Presidential awards.
He called upon media in the country to sensitise the public about the problems faced by the disabled persons, and also raise awareness on being considerate towards them.
The president said the State Bank of Pakistan had launched special schemes for such persons, which needed projection, so that more disabled persons could benefit. He said there was a need to accommodate special persons at workplaces as per their capabilities, and stressed equipping them with relevant education and skills to meet the demand of the market.
It was told that under the government rules, approval of PC-1 for new projects had been made conditional with provision of necessary facilities for the disabled and an accessible infrastructure for them. It was told that not only to facilitate the existing disabled persons but efforts should be made to care for the mothers and the unborn child to protect them against disabilities.
Information Minister Shibli Faraz said media could play an important role in reforming the attitude of society towards special persons and assured that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting would play its part in that regard.
National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said a special committee had been formed to remove loopholes in laws related to the welfare of special persons and directives issued to the department concerned. The media persons agreed that the special persons must not be mocked at in television dramas, theatres, and films, and called for using social media and newspapers as an effective platform to highlight the issue.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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