Lahore Business-men Association for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled (LABARD) has said that the federal government was hiding the actual figure of the disabled people to avoid allocating appropriate funds for their rehabilitation. While presiding over the general body meeting, he demanded of the government that jobs should be provided to the disabled persons as per quota prescribed for them.
According to law, two percent government and one percent private jobs are reserved for disabled persons but it is a matter of concern that the law is not being implemented in letter and spirit, he said. In the developed world, disabled persons enjoy special status and they are provided with every possible facility so that they could use their abilities for the well-being of the country but in Pakistan, the situation is not that encouraging, he added.
Malik said that disabled persons have no access to government jobs despite having a special quota. He said that it was the prime duty of every individual to take care of these unprivileged people. And that according to the national census, disabled people constitute 2.49 percent of the total population of the country but according to a United Nations census, they are 10 percent of the total population.
Speaking on the occasion, LABARD Senior Vice President Mian Nusrat-ud-Din and Joint Secretary Muhammad Saeed Khan said that it was the social responsibility of every single individual to play his role for the rehabilitation of disabled persons. They said that all the businessmen should at least accommodate one disabled person in his factory or office to curtail the miseries of ailing humanity. The meeting also pledged to accelerate efforts for the rehabilitation of disabled people through a strategy wherein all segments of society would be involved.