Islamabad : The government must emphasise on providing the best possible facilities to special persons as most of the roads and double roads do not have slope on pavements and footpaths and in front of zebra crossings for wheelchairs and even old pedestrians to walk.
PM Imran Khan had also directed the Capital Development Authority to provide excellent facilities to the special persons. CDA should work extensively to provide facilities to special persons on wheelchairs by making accessible entrance to public parks, public places next to stairs so that the wheelchairs can easily pass through and they are also able to enjoy the environment and ambiance outside their homes.
Rubina Farid while talking to this scribe said that her mother cannot walk properly and we have to use wheelchair to move her around. “We took her to Saidpur Village which Kamran Lashari had renovated in his tenure. The ramp beside the stair is so steep that two people had to move her to the top. While coming down it was raining and we couldn’t take the wheel chairs on the ramp because it was so slippery as well as it could have caused a major accident in taking her down the ramp. We had no option but to carry her down the stairs. It’s very sad that even if the ramps were not made by keeping the practicality in mind. Either they are non-existent and made so poorly, thin or steep that it is barely impossible to move a person of special needs,” she added.
Ayesha Tanvir, a housewife said that we have a huge section of society which are among the vulnerable section of society. It is entirely the government responsibility to provide basic facilities for persons with special needs as well as for the elderlies who are mostly confined to their bedrooms. If their basic necessities are provided, they can also entertain themselves at public places.
Minha Sarwat, a college student who came back after studying abroad said that she was really impressed by the provisions foreign countries provide to their senior citizens and special persons. In Pakistan we have a staggering number of elderly and disabled people so there is an escalating demand of support devices and care equipment to improve their quality of life.
Here we are still struggling with manual wheelchairs whereas in foreign countries there are electric powered wheelchairs that make them totally independent and they carry out their chores themselves. From driving to grocery and to their profession each and everything is done independently. Now they are working on smart navigation system on electric wheel chairs that offers obstacle detection, recognition of surrounding environments and collision avoidance.