KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved a grant of Rs 16 million and vehicles to take blind children from their homes to school in a meeting with a delegation of Sindh Pakistan Blind Association.
“We are introducing five percent quota for government jobs for differently abled persons,” the CM said in a meeting with members of the association.
PSCM Agha Wasif and DEPD Secretary Tauha Farooqi attended the meeting. The delegation consisted of Association President Riaz Memon, Senior Vice President Ghulam Dastagir, General Secretary Saad Noor, Finance Secretary Mohsin Ali and others.
The CM said that President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari directed him to solve all the problems of visually impaired persons. To this, Riaz Memon, president of the Association, said that his delegation had invited him [President Zardari]. Mr. Riaz said that Asif Ali Zardari during his last tenure as President of Pakistan had granted them a concession card for traveling in PIA and Railways, which was canceled after his tenure ended.
He said that the PPP government in Gilani also supported them and the support was stopped when the government changed. The CM was told that the blind should be issued a CNIC reflecting their visual impairment. To this, the CM assured the association that he would talk to the NADRA authorities to resolve their issue. The members of the association requested the CM to approve the annual grant for their association. At this point, the CM approved an annual grant of Rs 16 crore and directed the DEPD Secretary to send the summary to him for formal approval. Members of the association told the CM that their two centers – Larkana and Karachi – needed transport facilities for pick-up and drop-off. The CM has sanctioned two vehicles for them to pick up the children from home to the Centre/School and then return them home. Murad Ali Shah told the association that there would be separate facilities for the blind in the Inclusive City and their members would have confidence in developing the facilities there. Members of the Association of the Blind praised the CM for his steadfast support to the differently-abled.
