Vice chancellors meeting told: No quota for disabled persons in engineering varsities

KARACHI: There is no quota for persons with disabilities in engineering universities, an online meeting of vice chancellors across the country was told on Wednesday.

The meeting, which was chaired by President Dr Arif Alvi, was attended by 166 vice chancellors. Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodhi, vice chancellor of Karachi’s NED University, said since there is no quota for persons with disabilities in engineering universities, they do not get admissions.

“The Pakistan Engineering Council decided in 1974 that no special seat would be reserved for the disabled and that decision is still in force,” he said. President Alvi expressed his surprise over the non-availability of quota for the disabled in engineering universities. He said there was also a need to look into the medical field in which people with disabilities are being neglected.

Talking to ‘The News’ after the meeting, Dr Tariq Rafi, vice chancellor of Jinnah Sindh Medical University, said due to lack of time he did not get the opportunity to speak, otherwise one seat is reserved for students with disabilities at Jinnah Sindh Medical University and Dow University. “They are admitted every year but they have to show the disability certificate from the Sindh government,” he said. Engineer Dr Nasir Mehmood Khan, registrar of the Pakistan Engineering Council, said the syndicate of engineering universities is empowered in admission matters.

“There is no restriction on admission of persons with disabilities in light fields in which there is no physical exertion. Students with disabilities can be admitted in software, computer engineering and other light fields but cannot be admitted in mechanical, electrical, mining and other rigorous fields,” he said. Dr Sarosh Lodhi said while talking to ‘The News’: “If the Pakistan Engineering Council reconsiders its old decision, we are ready to keep quota for students with disabilities.”