SIALKOT: The latest census has failed to enlist accurate data of differently-able people, and this may bar such persons from getting their due rights.

The issue was raised at an event held on the International Day of the People with Disabilities on Sunday at local press club by Shamsa Kanwal, an activist working for the rights of such people.

She urged the government to involve the stakeholders in policy-making, and focus on the welfare encouragement of such people so that they could could also play an effective role in national development.

Ms Kanwal said there were more than 50,000 people with disabilities in the district, claiming 3,000 out of them were registered with her organisation, Safia Foundation.

Herself a visually impaired person, she said the census could have compiled authentic data of the people with disabilities if conducted in a proper manner.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2017