KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday remarked that it was the government’s responsibility to provide employment to the differently abled persons.
These remarks came on a joint petition of the visually impaired persons, the Amigos Welfare Trust (AWT) and Justice Helpline (JH) asking the court to order implementation of five per cent disabled persons’ quota in all government offices.
During the hearing, the court expressed its displeasure over the provincial government for not furnishing the reply and directed the chief secretary to submit comprehensive response by March 28. The court directed the provincial government to inform it about the measures taken for employment of disabled persons.
Earlier, the visually impaired persons including Sumiya Mughal, Saima Younus, Urooj Farhan, Sidra Mujahid, Sadia Mahmood, Abid, Ghulam Asif, Ayaz, Ahmed Khan and others as well as JH representative Atam Parkash and AWT President Anwar Masih submitted that they had applied for employment in different departments as per their qualification. They said that many of the departments had conducted their interviews and test and had also issued disability certificates to them but they could not be appointed.
The petitioners through their lawyer Advocate Nadeem Shaikh submitted that in pursuance of the Employment & Rehabilitation Ordinance 1981 for Disabled Persons, the federal ministry of health & social welfare had constituted National Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons to facilitate the employment, rehabilitation and welfare of differently abled persons but no such facilities were provided by the respondents.
The petitioners and others had made hectic efforts to get employment as per to their educational ability and quota granted by the government. When no department adjusted and provided employment to us, we had started agitation in 2015 outside Karachi Press Club and Chief Minister House on which CM Murad Ali Shah had assured us that we would be given employments as per ability but the promise had not been fulfilled yet, they added.
Citing chief Secretary, social welfare department secretary, health secretary and commissioner Karachi as the respondents, the petitioners requested the court to direct them to appoint deserving blind persons’ with the jobs.