By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Friday asked the stakeholders to expedite the process of registration of persons with disabilities (PWDs) as well as devise a mechanism to classify various disabilities. The president, while chairing a follow-up meeting on the registration of differently-abled people (DAPs), said it was imperative to streamline and expedite the registration of PWDs to ensure the protection of their rights.
The meeting was attended by SAPM on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHSR&C) Dr Faisal Sultan, Secretary NHSR&C Aamir Ashraf Khawaja, Special Secretary, Ministry of Interior Sher Alam Mehsud, Chairman NADRA, Brig (R) Khalid Latif and other senior officials of the government.
The president said that disability certificates were essential for DAPs to make them benefit from social protection schemes of the government like the Ehsaas Program. The federal health ministry and NADRA briefed the meeting about the progress regarding the registration of PWDs. NADRA Chairman Brig (R) Khalid Latif informed the meeting that his organization had registered 80,000 PWDs since January 2021. He said that NADRA would extend full support to the registration process of DAPs.
President Alvi asked the ministries of human rights and health, and NADRA to facilitate DAPs by providing them disability certificates on regular basis. He also advised the stakeholders concerned to coordinate with the provincial governments to identify areas for registration of PWDs.
Earlier last year, President Dr Arif Alvi Friday said that the financial inclusion of the Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) was a must to enable them play their role in the socio-economic development of the country. Chairing a meeting on financial inclusion of PWDs, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, he said that it was essential to bring differently-abled people (DAPs) into the mainstream and empower them economically.
The meeting was attended by SAPM on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Dr Sania Nishtar, Governor State Bank Dr Reza Baqir, Chairman Pakistan Banks Association, also President Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Muhammad Aurangzeb and the CEOs and presidents of 27 leading banks of the country also participated via video-link, a President House press release said.
Addressing the meeting, the president stated that DAPs were a vulnerable segment and it was the collective responsibility of society to work for their facilitation and economic welfare.
He emphasized the need to enhance financial inclusion of DAPs and improving the accessibility infrastructure for them.
