Punjab: CM pledges more resources for the disabled

[Naveed Yaseen]

PUNJAB Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has said that the provincial government will allocate the maximum financial resources for the rehabilitation of disabled people with a view to making them useful citizens of society.

Presiding over a meeting of the Punjab Welfare Trust for Disabled here on Monday, he announced the annual grant of Rs40 million for the trust and asked the philanthropists to cooperate with the government in serving the ailing humanity. He said the rehabilitation of the handicapped was a common responsibility of society and every segment of society should play an active role in this regard. He directed the officials concerned to make a comprehensive plan for the welfare of the handicapped at tehsil and district levels.

The chief minister said the Punjab Welfare Trust for Disabled was extending commendable services for the welfare of the handicapped but there was a dire need to enhance the scope of its activities. He said the Punjab government would prepare a state-of-the-art centre for the well-being of the special people, besides bearing all the expenses of the project, supervised by the trust.

Shahbaz said the special people showing good performance in different fields would be encouraged and the provision of 2 per cent quota for their admission to educational institutions would be ensured. He said he would himself participate in the functions of the special people for their encouragement. He announced that scholarships would be awarded to position holder special children out of the Punjab Fellowship Endowment Fund to help them continue their studies. He observed that disability of the special people should not become a hindrance in achieving their goals. They had shown best performance in sports, education and other fields of life, Shahbaz said, adding that a female candidate proved her talent by securing 6th position in the CSS examination.

The chief minister said the rehabilitation and welfare of the disabled was ignored in the past but his government would take every possible measure for their betterment. Punjab Welfare Trust for Disabled Managing Director Dr Amjad Saqib briefed the chief minister about the objectives and working procedure of the trust, highlighting the steps it had taken for the welfare of the disabled. He said as per a report of the World Health Organisation, the ratio of the disabled was 10 per cent of the total population of the world while it was 3 per cent in the country. He informed the participants that the trust was established in 1991 with the endowment fund of Rs100 million and Rs180 million had been distributed among 78 NGOs for the betterment of the disabled. He said the trust was voluntarily working for rehabilitation of the disabled. He also apprised the participants of the performance of other NGOs working for the disabled.

The meeting was also attended by the social welfare secretary, the education secretary, Finance Secretary Pervaiz Masood, Justice ® Amir Raza Khan, Col ® Zafar Iqbal, Farrah Nadeem, Dr Khalid Jamil and Dr Muhammad Awais.

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