Daily Times

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday stressed the need for establishing a one-window operation in the country to expeditiously process disability certificates.

He said the existing procedure of certification and registration was quite slow and cumbersome which needed to be simplified for the facilitation of the differently abled people.

The president stated this while chairing a follow-up meeting on the registration of differently-abled persons, at the Presidency.

The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to PM on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Dr Sania Nishtar, SAPM on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C), Dr Faisal Sultan, Chairman NADRA, Usman Yousaf Mobin and senior officials of Ministry of Health.

The president said that persons with disability constituted almost 12-14 percent of the country’s population and faced great difficulties in getting their disability certificates.

In order to facilitate them, he asked the stakeholders concerned to establish an institutional setup – consisting of medical specialists and representatives of NADRA in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) – to swiftly process disability certificates.

He advised the Ministry of NHSR&C to approach the provinces comprehensively to evolve a consensus on the definition of disability as well as decide modalities for the certification of disabilities.

Dr Sania Nishtar informed the meeting that the survey on disabled persons under the Ehsaas Programme would be completed by the end of June 2021.

The NADRA chairman informed the meeting that over 339,000 differently abled persons had been registered with the authority.

Meanwhile, President Dr Arif Alvi congratulating the 10-member Nepalese expedition on scaling K-2 in harsh winter conditions said the remarkable achievement would project Pakistan’s soft image and tourism in the country.

In a meeting with the Nepalese delegation at the Presidency, Alvi appreciated the courage and strength of mountaineers, who had done a marvellous job by conquering the second highest peak of the world.

The president said both states enjoyed excellent relations and such activities would further increase goodwill between the two countries.

Nepalese Ambassador to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari and leader of the expedition Nirmal Purja expressed their deep gratitude to Pakistan for the support. They also praised the natural beauty and wide-range of mountaineering opportunities in Pakistan.