After a period of over six years, the Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Maal (SW&BM) Punjab has not devised a 'coordinated mechanism' for the collection of grants from the government and private organizations to take rehabilitation measures for the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). Sources told Business Recorder that the department has not prepared any strategy to deal with the issue even after the devolution of powers to the provinces under the 18th Constitutional Amendment, providing advantages to the aforesaid organisations of skipping the recruitments of the special persons.
"Since 2005, the SW&BM Punjab has not received or collected grants from the said organisations due to lack of interest and alleged negligence of the officials concerned," reliable sources said, adding that the department has not compiled any consolidated data of the disabled persons registered with them through which they could ascertain the tendency of disability in the province and how many persons are fit to work or not fit to work.
Another official source, however, claimed that the department has recently collected a sum of Rs 15 million from both the organisations after issuance of notices. Interestingly, the official admitted that the notices were issued without visiting the organisation concerned.
"After collection of the grants, the department is formulating a standard operating procedure (SOP) under the supervision of Secretary SW&BM Punjab Haroon Rafique to bifurcate the collected grants among the District Training and Rehabilitation Committees (DTRC) which are liable to take 'practical social initiatives' for the special persons living across the province," the official claimed.
When asked whether the department was collecting/receiving funds before the devolution of powers, the sources said the federal government had stopped releasing funds to the SW&BM Punjab in 2005 and the department had not received a single penny since the devolution of powers which created a 'gruesome situation' for the department and the special persons living across the province.
Zaib-un-Nissa, Director Programmes of the SW&BM and member of the Provincial Council for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, refused to comment or share information regarding the issue, saying that Director General SW&BM Punjab Waheed Akhtar Ansari has not authorised them to share any kind of information with the media representatives.
To a query, the sources said an establishment which does not employ a disabled person as required by the Section 10 shall deposit a sum of money in the funds each month it would be paid as salary or wages to a disabled person under The Disabled Person Employment and Rehabilitation Ordinance 1981.