ISLAMABAD, Oct 30: The government has allocated an amount of Rs6.282 billions in its ten years perspective plan (2001-11) for education, training and rehabilitation of the special persons.

This was stated by the federal secretary for women development, social welfare and special education, Parveen Qadir Agha, at a press conference on Tuesday.

She said, under the recently approved national policy for persons with disabilities, the federal government intended to provide an environment to the special persons which would help realize their potential. However, to achieve the vision as set out in the national policy, a total of Rs25 billion would be required, she added.

Quoting the policy draft, Ms Agha said the empowerment of persons with disabilities irrespective of their caste, creed, religion and gender would be its target.

Commenting on the aims and objective of the policy, she said the special persons would be provided with access to different facilities which may lead to their integration into the society.

It would be ensured that they were involved in planning and implementation of educational, training and rehabilitation programmes for themselves, their families and communities and were able to enjoy their rights and opportunities as other citizens do, she added.

Under the new policy, the secretary said, they would have equal opportunities and access to medical facilities, education, social, psychological, vocational training, employment and rehabilitation with out any discrimination.

She said the government would also ensure that the legislation relating to employment and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities was adequately formulated and strictly enforced with the expanded service infrastructure which was adequate to accommodate cover all persons with disabilities both in urban and rural areas.

She said the government was also serious in harnessing modern technology, tools and skills to streamline national policy and service delivery.

Ms Agha contended that the ministry would develop and launch advocacy campaigns for special groups such as policy makers, opinion leaders, youth and adolescents.

Under the new policy, she said, the ministry would adopt a shift from exclusive system of education to that to inclusive education for children with disabilities.

She remarked: “It has also underlined building of strong partnerships with other ministries and departments, both at national and provincial levels.”

The ministry wanted to decentralize its programme management and service delivery units and hand it over to the provinces for effective implementation of different programmes.

At present, about 2.49 per cent of total population of the country was suffering from various disabilities, the secretary said.