People with disabilities to have reserved seats in LG system, says CM

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that his government is planning to reserve seats for persons with disabilities in the local bodies of the province.

“I am keen to invest in the rehabilitation of differently-abled persons by establishing units in every district, but I need devoted, dedicated and God-fearing volunteers for the purpose because this selfless service needs to be done with affection, personal care and love,” he said while speaking on Friday at a programme to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities organised by the provincial department of empowerment of persons with disabilities at the banquet hall of the CM House.

The day is observed globally on December 3 every year. Shah said there was a dire need to work for rehabilitation of differently-abled persons all over Sindh. “The Sindh government is ready to support genuine organisations to establish autism centres and rehabilitation units for mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities, vision impairment, and deafness,” he stated.

He said that his ministers who worked for empowerment of persons with disabilities had completely changed in their day-to-day life and in their approach to handling such things. “The service to the persons with disabilities has given them [ministers] a spiritual satisfaction and the same satisfaction I have witnessed among the teachers, trainers, physiotherapists and volunteers serving them [persons with disabilities],” Shah said.

He added that when he took over as the CM, there was a department of special education with some schools where enrolment was very low. “I have created a full-fledged department of empowerment of persons with disabilities which has over 60 centres as some of them were devolved by the federal government to Sindh.”

He maintained that the Sindh government had focused on all kinds of disabilities in order to bring the persons affected by them into the mainstream. He said he would further strengthen the newly established rehabilitation centre in Sujawal.

The CM said that his government had enacted different laws to provide legal cover for the proper care, education, rehabilitation and vocational training of the persons with disabilities. “I am trying my best to implement the five per cent quota of differently-abled persons in government departments’ jobs.” On the occasion, differently-abled children from different cities staged tableaus, national songs and one-act plays.

App launched

During the event, an app, ConnectHear, was formally launched through which persons with hearing impairment would be able to communicate. It was said that presently, 3,000 persons were using the app.

Special Assistant to CM Sadiq Memon said that his department had started registering persons with disabilities and so far 245,000 persons had been registered. “The registration work is being carried out so that necessary schemes for their rehabilitation, education, and technical and health care could be carried out,” he said.