White Cane Safety Day: Minister promises best medical facilities to special people in govt hospitals

LAHORE:The caretaker Provincial Minister for Health and Social Welfare Department Prof Dr Javed Akram has said that the problems of visually impaired people will be solved on a priority basis.

‘The Punjab government will provide the best medical facilities to differently-abled people in government hospitals,’ he said while speaking as a special guest in the ceremony organised at Alhamra on World White Cane Safety Day Thursday. In the ceremony, director of social welfare and Bait-ul-Maal department, Irfan Gondal, deputy Director Ashraf Janjua and visually impaired people also participated. In his address to the participants of the event, the minister said that visually impaired people are part of our family. They should also be considered as creations of Allah. I will always work for their rights in this society. Allah Almighty has put the visually impaired people in this test according to their capacity. They are not disabled but differently-abled persons.

The minister said that caretaker governments do not have the authority to make laws. Credit goes to Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi for not having a single protest by the visually impaired during the caretaker government. Negotiations are not on the streets but always sitting at the table. Visually impaired people are working in 29 different departments of Punjab. According to the approval, two months’ salary will be provided to visually-impaired daily wage workers. The Council for People with Disability Act was not yet operational. Caretaker government has decided to create more facilities for the differently abled people in this council meeting two weeks ago. According to this law, 12 sub-committees have also been formed. He said that the Punjab government would provide the best medical facilities to the differently-abled people in government hospitals. The problems of visually impaired people will be solved on priority basis.