SWABI: About 1,000 wheelchairs and tricycles have been awaiting distribution among the physically disabled people here for last two months.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar had arranged funds for purchase of wheelchairs and tricycles for special persons, sources told Dawn on Saturday. But, local PTI leaders have no time to distribute these among the deserving people.

About 2,500 special people are registered with the local Khidmat-i-Mazroon Tanzeem (KMT).

The sources said the wheelchairs and tricycles had been stored in Gulu Dheri area, waiting to be distributed among the special people.

The KMT leaders said they had already informed the special people about the arrival of wheelchairs and tricycles in the district, but apathy of the PTI leaders had dismayed them.

The special people said they had been eagerly waiting for the wheelchairs and tricycles as they could not afford to buy these from the market.

They demanded of the authorities to ensure distribution of the equipment as soon as possible. They said if it was difficult for the PTI leaders to spare time then the officials of the district administration should be asked to do the job.

It is worth mentioning that the United Nations in 2011 passed a resolution to provide free wheelchair mobility to special people, declaring it their fundamental right.

Meanwhile, Fazal Dad, KMT general secretary, said with the completion of the census the government would be able to know the exact number of the special people in the district, helping the policymakers to allocate adequate funds for their welfare.

He lauded the government for creating a separate column in the census form for the special people.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2017