Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday sought comments from the provincial chief secretary, Social Welfare Department secretary, health secretary and Karachi commissioner on a petition seeking implementation of five percent disabled person’s quota in all government institutions.

A division bench, headed by Justice Sadiq Hussain Bhatti, was hearing a petition filed by eight physically handicapped persons and the Justice Helpline, a non-governmental organisation. Through the petition, the petitioners, including Sumbul, Rubina, Nasir Ahmed, Nooman Ahmed Ansari, Sajjid Ali, Abudl Raheem, Ismail and Asad, had 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 tests and also issued disability certificates to them.

“To facilitate the disabled persons Ministry of Health & Social Welfare had formed the National Council for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons but no facilities were provided by the respondents for the rehabilitations of disabled persons at all”, petitioners submitted.

The petitioners said that they had made hectic efforts to get employment in different government departments as per their educational ability and quota granted for them but all in vain. They submitted that they had held several protests on which the Sindh chief minister had assured them that they would be hired in different departments as well as their quota would be enhanced from two to five percent.

Advocate Nadeem Shaikh and Atam Parkash, who were representing the petitioners, told the judges that ‘The Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981’ was promulgated to generate employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in industrial and commercial establishments. They added that the law could not achieve its objectives as it was silent on making guidelines for building infrastructure to facilitate the disabled persons to work in organizations. The petitioners, while maintaining that the authorities concerned had miserably failed to provide employments to the deserving handicaps, requested the court to direct the respondents to hire them in governmental organisations as per their eligibility.

The court was further requested to seek a report from the authorities concerned to ascertain implementation of five percent quota and order its implementation with true letter and spirit. After the preliminary hearing, the court issued notices to respondents and the provincial law officer directing them to submit their replies by November 8.

Published in Daily Times, October 24^th 2017.