KARACHI: It is a sad reflection on the way things function in the country that journalists flock to press conferences called by celebrities and politicians with great enthusiasm, but when it comes to the disadvantaged segments of society they look the other way.

The Pakistan Disabled Foundation (PDA) held a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday afternoon to draw the attention of the media and authorities concerned towards White Cane Safety Day marked all over the world on Oct 15. Only a handful of journalists attended the presser and sadly members of the PDA, who are visually impaired, had no idea how many people were listening to them. It was heart-wrenching to hear them say at the end of the programme that now that the media knew what they were talking about, there message would be put across. Little did they know that there was marginal media presence in the hall.

Speaking on the occasion, PDA chairman Shahid Ahmed Memon said that after the passing of the 18th amendment the federal and provincial governments should establish authorities to look into and resolve issues faced by the disabled. Such authorities may include members representing the physically handicapped because they knew best about the problems confronted by them. They should also be made part of the financial institutions that released money to the organisations working for the betterment of the disabled so that the allocated money did not get wasted. He requested the authorities concerned to take notice of those institutions that had not been doing their job, causing harm to the cause of the disadvantaged.

Shedding light on White Cane Safety Day, Mr Memon said one of the reasons that it’s observed annually was to educate people on how to treat the visually impaired so that their ‘mobility’ could be made hassle-free. In that regard traffic authorities, public transport drivers, conductors and pedestrians were taught how to make things easier for those who couldn’t see.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2014