LAHORE – The Punjab Assembly on Monday unanimously carried a resolution to seek reserved seats in all tiers of the parliament, for the disabled persons in a manner they are allocated for women and minorities, so that they could also raise voice for their rights.

The resolution was presented by Alipur Niazi before the House which kick-started proceedings 65-minutes beyond the fixed time with Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan in the Chair. Appreciating the resolution, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah sought the same seats for eunuchs and the mentally retarted, however, without explaining whether it would serve the cause of legislation and improve working of the House from bottom to the top.

As the House kicked off the proceedings, the Chair announced resignation of four MPAs namely Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Michael, Kamal Ali Agha and Mohsin Leghari who have been elected to the Senate. Their resignations have been accepted.

On the government business day, the House took up questions relating to the Communication and Works department to which the Minister Ahmad Ali Aulekh gave answers.

The House also took business of various adjournment motions which filed previously. The House pended most of them till next session and received reply to some others. One was moved by Ch Zaheeruddin, Ch Amir Sultana Cheema and Khadima Umar, to retrieve the official cars from 10 former top civil servants including four IGs, two judges, one chief secretary, one Home secretary, Chairman Task Force and Mustafa Ramday. The House was told that the concerned department taken notice of published report and the vehicles would be got back within a week.

The second most vivid part of the proceedings was the Opposition demand for the release of development funds to its members. The issue got a hilarious touch when the Opposition said: “the matter has been stuck up between three ‘Rajputs’ namely, Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, the Deputy Speaker Rana Mashood Khan and the Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah as they have made commitment on releasing them funds but the needful has yet not done which cuts a sorry figure for the Rajput who never relegate on their promise.” Enjoying the moment, Rana Sana said Raja Riaz is the fourth Rajput and the issue was taken up with him. He said the treasury members had serious reservations on the Opposition demand after they received Rs 7.5 crore each from the Prime Minister and want the same amount for them if they want the funds from the Punjab government. Shaukat Basra admitted funds from the Federal government but not to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore and that too, not to all. Uzma Bokhari said women members had not been treated at par with the male members. She said each PPP member received Rs five crore while woman just Rs two crore and the same situation was on the side of the benches where funding to the male runs into billion and the women much lesser than what was their due. Nazim Hussain Shah of PPP did not want the provincial government to commit another wrong with the Opposition member after they had been discriminated about the federal funds.

During the course of proceedings the Opposition tried best to derail the proceedings to Mahran Bank funding scam to stir the hornest’s nest against the PML(N) leaders whom the President of the Bank Yousan Habib accused of receiving the money among other politicians. PPP Parliamentary Party leader, Zulfiqar Gondal and Shaukat Basra backed by others, repeatedly touched upon the Mehran Bank issue in a bid malign the Sharif brothers alleging that they received the ISI political bribe and if they didn’t, they must say it on oath before the House.
Gondal said if Waheeda Shah could be penalised for a wrong act why not the Sharifs. The Opposition wanted to play up the issue but the Chair seeing through their intentions, did not permit them to speak on the matter maintaining that the matter was subjudice and the Sharifs also given their point of view on the allegations which had been published in the newspapers.

Sheikh Allauddin floated the idea of brining a bill in the house following, the precedent of Indonesia, for depositing salary of the husband in the bank account of his wife so that they do not feel deprived. He asked Uzma Bokhari to take the initiative and promised support while Uzma dexterously threw the ball back in Sheikh’s court asking him to also include the businessmen in this area and start it with transferring your money to account your spouse.

The 35th session on the completion of 100-day has been prorogued indefinitely.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/13-Mar-2012/pa-passes-resolution-for-disabled-representation

Noorudin.S.Bhamani (PWD)
President (Pakistan Chapter): World Association of Persons With Disabilities
President:
Awareness Voluntary Organization (DSW 3100-K)
134, Amynabad, Off Martin Road,
P.I.B Colony, Karachi - 74800.
Tel: Direct-34946615, 34132989, 34132988
Cell: 03002395615
03333043238
Fax:34132885

The resolution was presented by Alipur Niazi before the House which kick-started proceedings 65-minutes beyond the fixed time with Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan in the Chair. Appreciating the resolution, Law Minister Rana Sanaullah sought the same seats for eunuchs and the mentally retarted, however, without explaining whether it would serve the cause of legislation and improve working of the House from bottom to the top.

As the House kicked off the proceedings, the Chair announced resignation of four MPAs namely Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Michael, Kamal Ali Agha and Mohsin Leghari who have been elected to the Senate. Their resignations have been accepted.

On the government business day, the House took up questions relating to the Communication and Works department to which the Minister Ahmad Ali Aulekh gave answers.

The House also took business of various adjournment motions which filed previously. The House pended most of them till next session and received reply to some others. One was moved by Ch Zaheeruddin, Ch Amir Sultana Cheema and Khadima Umar, to retrieve the official cars from 10 former top civil servants including four IGs, two judges, one chief secretary, one Home secretary, Chairman Task Force and Mustafa Ramday. The House was told that the concerned department taken notice of published report and the vehicles would be got back within a week.

The second most vivid part of the proceedings was the Opposition demand for the release of development funds to its members. The issue got a hilarious touch when the Opposition said: “the matter has been stuck up between three ‘Rajputs’ namely, Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, the Deputy Speaker Rana Mashood Khan and the Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah as they have made commitment on releasing them funds but the needful has yet not done which cuts a sorry figure for the Rajput who never relegate on their promise.” Enjoying the moment, Rana Sana said Raja Riaz is the fourth Rajput and the issue was taken up with him. He said the treasury members had serious reservations on the Opposition demand after they received Rs 7.5 crore each from the Prime Minister and want the same amount for them if they want the funds from the Punjab government. Shaukat Basra admitted funds from the Federal government but not to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore and that too, not to all. Uzma Bokhari said women members had not been treated at par with the male members. She said each PPP member received Rs five crore while woman just Rs two crore and the same situation was on the side of the benches where funding to the male runs into billion and the women much lesser than what was their due. Nazim Hussain Shah of PPP did not want the provincial government to commit another wrong with the Opposition member after they had been discriminated about the federal funds.

During the course of proceedings the Opposition tried best to derail the proceedings to Mahran Bank funding scam to stir the hornest’s nest against the PML(N) leaders whom the President of the Bank Yousan Habib accused of receiving the money among other politicians. PPP Parliamentary Party leader, Zulfiqar Gondal and Shaukat Basra backed by others, repeatedly touched upon the Mehran Bank issue in a bid malign the Sharif brothers alleging that they received the ISI political bribe and if they didn’t, they must say it on oath before the House.
Gondal said if Waheeda Shah could be penalised for a wrong act why not the Sharifs. The Opposition wanted to play up the issue but the Chair seeing through their intentions, did not permit them to speak on the matter maintaining that the matter was subjudice and the Sharifs also given their point of view on the allegations which had been published in the newspapers.

Sheikh Allauddin floated the idea of brining a bill in the house following, the precedent of Indonesia, for depositing salary of the husband in the bank account of his wife so that they do not feel deprived. He asked Uzma Bokhari to take the initiative and promised support while Uzma dexterously threw the ball back in Sheikh’s court asking him to also include the businessmen in this area and start it with transferring your money to account your spouse.

The 35th session on the completion of 100-day has been prorogued indefinitely.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/13-Mar-2012/pa-passes-resolution-for-disabled-representation

The groundbreaking training has been organized by Capital Independent Living Center (CILC) with the support of Asia Pacific Network of Independent Living (APNIL), in collaboration with National Forum of Women with Disabilities Pakistan (NFWWD) and Pakistan Disabled Peoples Organization (PDPO). The training was attended by 40 young women with disabilities from Karachi, Nawabshah, Lahore, Multan, Peshawer, Muzafergarh, Faisalabad, Bagh, Muzafarabad, Abbotabad and Islamabad. International recognized resource persons from South Asia Disability Forum, Disabled Peoples International Asia Pacific, Milestone Society and Special Talent Exchange Program (STEP).

Women with disabilities are disadvantaged in several key areas when compared with other women, men with disabilities, and the society as a whole. These women face a triple handicap and discrimination due to their disability, gender and developing world status. Keeping in the view that the range of abilities of persons within any disabilities group is enormous, we have a large number of women with disabilities in Pakistan who are taking part in the activities of daily life with courage. The issue of disability is gaining more and more importance all over the world as well as in Pakistan due the disability movement for a “rights based society” since almost two decades.

Government have framed various policies for PWDs with Disabled Persons Organizations, INGOs, NGOs and other disability stockholders which include reservation of jobs, concession facilities in travelling, special training institutions etc. The Government of Pakistan has made efforts to support the rights of Persons with Disabilities in the view of Biwako Millennium Framework (BMF) and National Policy on disability and now Pakistan has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. However, despite these efforts, the sad fact is that most people with disabilities especially women with disabilities and their families remain completely un-served by government, NGOs and even in Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs) persons with disabilities they often feel difficulty to live with dignity in their respective communities.

Through peer-counseling, peer-counselors can support them to deal with such anxiety by sharing their own experiences and give them confidence that every person has capacity to live independently. Since peer-counselors are PWDs who have similar experiences and they are facing same challenges, it put real significance. It provides a role model, who can serve as a link between the person seeking help and the service provider could also draw on a wide range of unique experiences which cannot be observed by anyone else. Disability movement in Pakistan is accelerating and rights of Persons with Disabilities are getting recognition. A good number of Persons with Disabilities have attended trainings from Japan and Thailand, got employment in mainstream organizations, receiving higher education and playing leading role in the society. Establishment of Independent Living Centers in Pakistan is a landmark which is disseminating information relating to Independent Living.

A similar training was conducted with Akiyama San from Human Care Association - Japan for women with disabilities, started first Peer-Support Group of WWDs in Pakistan. A unique characteristic of this training is that mentor of Independent Living Concepts in Pakistan will be Resource Persons. They are expected to proactively involve in lectures and workshops, and their self-reflection and their own experiences are considered to be valuable factors of PC training. This year training achieved following land marks:

The News

BUNER: Living with his eight member family, Sajid Ali Khan finally heaved a sigh of relief when he started his own garments and tailoring shop with a UNDP grant. He is one of many recipients of UNDP grants aiming to streamline the livelihood of conflict affected areas in Buner and Swat districts.
Khan is a young man of just 25 but had the misfortune of being born with a physical disability which led to the local community treating him like a pariah. “My father was shocked when the principal of a private school rejected my admission by saying ‘this lame boy will distort my school’s image’.”
Khan’s father insisted that the principal grant him admission but he refused. “Other schools were very far from my home and being physically impaired I could not attend them. I hate that man because he ruined my life by forcing me into darkness,” Khan said.
When he turned eight, his father got him a job as a tailor’s apprentice. “My boss was very kind to me as he himself was disabled. He was also a government teacher, and taught me the trade in
five years.”
The kindness of his employer led him to hand over his shop to Khan when he had learnt the craft completely. Since then, Khan has been working as a
tailor master.
But everything changed when Talibanisation engulfed Buner and Swat. Like many running businesses, Khan’s was also badly hit. “We migrated to Mardan and left behind everything. After returning home, my shop had been ransacked and I was left to the mercy of God.”
“Then one day some young men came to me and enlisted my name in a vulnerable persons list. They gave me a grant with which I bought new tailoring tools and some readymade garments,” he said, adding, “Today, with the grace of God, I can easily earn Rs500 per day.”
His shop in Sawaria Bazaar now also employs an extra artisan and an apprentice to maintain smooth operations. Though he is content with his life, he still hopes to expand his business.
He said with a gleam in his eyes, “If Sarhad Rural Support Programme and the United Nations Development Programme had not helped me in time, I could never have continued tailoring and would have lived a life
of pain.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2011.