After a serious outbreak of polio in 1921, FD Roosevelt became a wheelchair user yet he went on to become the longest occupant of the White House during tumultuous times of economic depression and World War II between 1933 to 1945, showing how his impairment did not turn into disability. It is not the physical impairment but the attitude of society which creates disability. In recent decades, this approach of viewing disability as a social rather than a medical problem has gained wide currency in the developed world. But in Pakistan we still view disability as a medical condition of an individual; which requires only curative and rehabilitative strategies to change the individual to adapt to society.
Since 2008, the UN Convention for Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) stands as an umbrella policy framework; which Pakistan had ratified in 2011. The underlying philosophy of CRPD is embedded in human rights discourse. It is the right of people with impairments to demand equitable treatment without being subjected to any exclusionary policies. Despite the lapse of several years now the existing legal framework in Pakistan is still the outdated Disabled Persons (Employment and rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981 which has been adopted by provinces with minor amendments in the aftermath of Eighteenth Constitutional Amendment. From different provisions of this Ordinance it appears that it is perfectly in accordance with neoliberal traditions where the sole objective is labour market inclusion of the people with physical challenges. The consequent measures mainly include establishing special education schools, earmarking quotas in jobs or limited attempts to promote self-employment.
Children who are kept segregated from quite early years of their lives cannot later be integrated into mainstream society very easily
Article 24 of CRPD requires state parties that persons with disabilities are not excluded from the general education system. But the special education system in Pakistan is based on the premise that children with impairment should be segregated from the mainstream education system. One unforeseen outcome of this policy is laying the foundations of a lifelong social exclusion of the children with impairments. It also means unintentionally but inevitably shutting the doors of higher education system for such children because it is hard to adapt to mainstream higher education after segregated schooling. Similarly, to expect that children who are segregated and excluded quite early in life can be later integrated into mainstream society is a far-fetched idea.
If the society wants to give equal rights and equal opportunities to the physically challenged as equal members of society, then efforts should be made for an inclusive education system with simultaneous promotion of a peer support culture in educational institutions of all strands. This is possible only when the children with impairments get education in normal schools. Only in extreme cases of mental retardation an exclusive arrangement would be required. It may seem like a challenging prescription but if Pakistan has ratified the CRPD voluntarily then we can assume that it would have been decided after deliberations on such provisions. It is possible for the existing human resources and physical infrastructure of special education institutions to be integrated with selected general education schools.
The children who will learn to live and work together and be trained to respect each other while extending peer support would be more sensitised towards disability in later life. In accordance with the spirit of the social model of disability, all members of society need education and training rather than finding an easy solution of quarantining the physically challenged.
Article 9 and 20 of the CRPD make it mandatory for the state to ensure access of disabled persons to equal opportunities, physical facilities and mobility assistance as a matter of right. To conform with these provisions, provincial governments should take policy and legislative measures to transport service providers to ensure meaningful facilitation and assistance to the physically challenged persons. Public and commercial buildings can be required to incorporate disability-reducing design features and facilities through regulatory design codes. A mandatory Disability Impact Assessment (DIA) in planning of public sector development projects would help to make disabled people feel like a part of mainstream society.
A general perception regarding the employment of persons with impairments is that it is only the public sector which should provide them jobs. As a matter of collective social responsibility, in accordance with the Article 27 of the CRPD, the private sector should play the required role. But provincial governments should play their role in engaging private sector. For instance, as per Section 10 of the Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Act 2012 of Punjab, all commercial and industrial establishments are legally bound to reserve at least 3 percent of total vacancies for the persons with physical impairment. The rigorous implementation of such legal codes and incorporation of related provisions for facilitation at work place in such statutes can reduce pressure on the public sector.
In a nutshell, all provincial governments should take appropriate steps to design policies for this vulnerable segment of society in accordance with the rights based provisions enshrined in the CRPD. For effective policy making, data of all such people should be collected and updated at regular intervals. It is quite feasible to reserve a few seats in all provincial and national assemblies for physically challenged people to ensure effective policy formulation. This will facilitate mainstreaming for the people experiencing hardship caused by socially generated disability. We must not forget that it is only a physical impairment that makes a disability but also the attitude of society which creates disabilities. It is time both state and society acknowledge this bitter truth.
The writer works for the public sector and is a development policy analyst
Published in Daily Times, October 4th 2017.