SHC forms committee to inspect autism centres in province

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday constituted a committee under the supervision of the secretary of the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities (DEPD) to visit autism centres in the province and submit a report with regard to performance of 66 rehabilitation centres in the province, including the autism centres, in terms of their existence, building condition and availability of teaching staff and posts lying vacant as well as any recommendations with regard to provision of facilities to upgrade and improve them.

The order came on a petition that sought provision of education facilities to the children with disabilities in Sindh. The high court was informed by the DEPD secretary during the hearings that as per the Bureau of Statistics, there were 300,000 children with disabilities in the province, of whom only 3,653 had been registered at the six centres being operated by the department.

A division bench of the SHC comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon observed that the admission of having registration of only 3,653 out of 300,000 children with disabilities in Sindh was not worth appreciating because mere physical disability should never be an excuse to deny different aspects of life as ensured for every citizen regardless of their physical appearance.

The bench observed that the record brought before the court was a denial to rights of such children and compelled the court to take cognisance of the fact that of the 300,000 special children, only 3,653 students were receiving education, which meant that a majority of such children had been denied the opportunity to prove their inbuilt ability with which every special child was gifted.

The SHC observed that education undeniably was the most important aspect of life. It directed special secretary of the department to pursue such aspect and ensure that all special children received all facilities.

The DEPD secretary submitted that the department was providing education and transport facility but there were recruitment rules within their department and many posts were lying vacant. He submitted that the department rules provided for special qualification and training for the employees.

The SHC was informed that besides autism centres, an academy had been established under the 2018 Act, which was functional. The secretary submitted that there were 176 sanctioned posts of grade 17 whereas only 50 teachers/officers were working in the department.

The high court directed the special education secretary to ensure that vacant posts were filled on an urgent basis or ad-hoc basis if the law so provided but those appointed on the ad hoc basis would not be entitled to insist on their regularisation, except through appointment by the Sindh Public Service Commission and in case their ad hoc period was not extended or they were not regularised by the department, they would not be entitled to file petitions for redress of that grievance.

Regarding functions of the autism centres, the special education secretary submitted that earlier Rs150 million grant in aid was allocated for the autism centres, and 300 persons with disabilities were registered (day scholars) with them. The high court constituted a committee under the supervision of the DEPD secretary to visit the autism centres and submit a report with regard to the performance of 66 rehabilitation centres to ascertain their existence, building conditions and availability of teaching staff and posts lying vacant.

The SHC also directed the committee to submit recommendations with regard to improve such institutions. The high court observed that the committee shall also examine that the medical officers were regularly visiting all centers with regard to the treatment of children admitted in the referred centers and whether any treatment was provided by the health department, including major surgeries. The SHC sought a report within two weeks.