Society Must Focus On Attitude Towards Persons With Disabilities: DG Human Rights

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Dec, 2022 ) :Life of the people with disabilities is a constant struggle as they have to not only cope with their shortcomings, but also endure hardship, economic, psychological and social barriers that are a major hindrance in empowering them.

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, cumulative data of Persons with Disabilities (PWD) till 2021, a total of 371,833 PWDs have been registered across Pakistan.

"We all are equal human beings with equal human rights then why those disabled among us do not get equal treatment. it is the time for society to focus on the attitude towards persons with disabilities to play a constructive role for social inclusion of the these persons," said Director General Human Rights, Abdul Sattar.

Talking to APP he said, according to the old surveys, the population of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) was around 10 percent in Pakistan but the UN statistics count it to be 15 percent now. The government, besides limited resources is working for the support and betterment of PWDs and the ratification of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is reflective of the priorities of government but it is not only the responsibility of the government, the society following the footsteps of philanthropists, must also play their part and "If we cannot support them financially then we can at least support them morally." The Convention spells out the responsibility of the State towards protection of the rights of PWDs, provision of medical care, education, training, employment and rehabilitation to PWDs.

According to the father of Abdul Rehman, a child with mental disability; "the word `challenge' is not something unusual for us as being the marginalized section, we face different kind of issues including poor health, lower education attainment, less involvement in economic activities, physical and sometimes behavioral barriers, higher rates of poverty and transportation issues which all leads to depression and less social inclusion.

" The DGHR said those having logo of PWDs on their CNIC get exemption on custom cars, free medical treatment at specific hospitals, complaint redressal on priority and get enrolled on 2 percent employment quota in government and private institutions.

"PWDs have equal rights like that of normal persons, they should not be dealt with discrimination or maltreatment, instead in some cases these persons have more needs than normal human beings, like if physically handicapped, they need support devices to move, likewise visually impaired need their own equipment and now we have such advance softwares through which the visually impaired persons appear in high level exams. Those having disabilities mentally are treated differently as if they are educable, they are educated, trainable are trained and manageable are managed, they should get all human rights without discrimination and deserve humanly treatment and have been guaranteed all the rights across the board by our religion, constitution and international convention which we have rectified", he added.

Director, Council for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Rana Saeed Ramzan told APP that Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been called to make buildings disabled friendly with installment of ramps and other facilities and according to CDA, around 50 buildings have adopted this so far at the Federal capital and it the ongoing process.

"To empower the disabled, we need to focus and empower the `abled' who will ultimately support and take care of them," this is the concept being followed by the world and it is the time that our society must also follow it as we must not be pity on the PWDs, instead, their service should be mandatory, he said.