HYDERABAD, July 5: Sindh Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Mr Qamar Mansoor, has said the Sindh government has earmarked Rs1 billion for the development of the social sector with a view to providing job opportunities and undertaking welfare oriented activities. He was speaking at grant-in-aid cheques distribution ceremony to parents of the people with disabilities at the circuit house here on Monday night.

He said Hyderabad was the first district of Sindh which was implementing welfare oriented activities for the people with disabilities and the people with insufficient means.

He said the government had also planned sports activities for people with disabilities and “excellence awards” would also be given to them for the best performance in different fields.

He announced to fix a day in a month for providing entertainment facilities to them at the Hyderabad club with pick and drop facilities.

He said NGOs for women and children rights were working in isolation and some of them were exploiting the people with disabilities at different places to serve their personal interest which had damaged credibility of genuine NGOs and confidence of philanthropists.

He said the government alone could not meet all requirements of society and the community must participate in welfare activities.

He called upon the philanthropists to come forward and join hands with the government in welfare activities by adopting welfare institutions of “disabled” or “destitute” children.

He said the administration of district government in consultation with representatives of the people had utilized funds transparently and purposefully.

MNA Prof Khalid Wahab said the people with disabilities had same rights in society like the people without disabilities.

He said it was responsibility of the community and the government to look after the needs and rights under effective planning.

He said the people with disabilities had been deprived of some organs of the body but they had also been compensated by almighty Allah with other talents.

DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed said the purpose of the cheque distribution ceremony was to invite attention of well-to-do people and NGOs and to provide platform for interaction between different groups of society and government organizations for welfare of the most disadvantaged segment of society.

He said the district government had identified 315 mentally retarded and 960 physically handicapped beneficiaries to whom an amount of Rs5,000 each was being distributed.

He said in the first phase financial aid of Rs1.575 million was being given to 315 mentally retarded beneficiaries of defunct Hyderabad district.

He said in order to maintain transparency and to avoid any criticism and nepotism, the applications of needy people were invited through an advertisement in Sindhi, Urdu and English newspapers.

He said a committee was formed for the justification of financial aid to mentally retarded people.

He said the district government during the cheque distribution ceremony had given financial aid of Rs5,000 each directly to 175 beneficiaries of its area while cheques of financial aid were being delivered to concerned newly created district’s DCOs for onward distribution to beneficiaries of their respective areas.

He said the district government had also planned to provide financial aid to physically handicapped in the second phase to be arranged in near future.

He said the district government had already given financial aid of Rs104.7 million to health, education institutions and NGOs working in this field to provide facilities to these institutions and to ensure efficient service delivery to the people at grass root level under the Sindh Devolved Social Service Programme.

Mohammad Idrees, the father of a beneficiary and Yasmeen Jamil, the mother of a beneficiary, also spoke on the occasion.

MPA Syed Arshad Shah, MPA Aslam Pervaiz, officials and a large number of parents of the beneficiaries attended the ceremony.

SU: The University of Sindh announced results of various examinations and names of candidates who secured positions under the semester examination 2004.