KARACHI: Speakers at a panel discussion have regretted extremely low compliance with the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018 and were of the opinion that continued neglect towards the law was a major obstacle towards the social and economic uplift of persons with disabilities.

It was also pointed out during the programme that all private organisations must have at least five per cent quota of persons with disabilities in their workforce under the law.

The programme, ‘How to become a disability confident organisation?’, was organised by the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities and Network of Organisations Working for People with Disabilities, Pakistan (NOWPDP) at a local hotel on Friday.

Moderating the discussion, NOWPDP director Omair Ahmad spoke about the organisation’s mission and journey towards inclusion of persons with disabilities from infrastructural audits across the country to organising ‘Special CNIC’ camps.

The chairperson of the Institute of Architects Pakistan’s Karachi chapter, Ramiz Baig, noted that it was very difficult to ask companies to get infrastructural changes from the base or to start over.

Special Assistant to Sindh CM Qasim Naveed, with regard to the 5pc employment quota, highlighted the steps the government was taking to employ persons with disabilities. The government, he said, was rigorously working for accessibility and transport and also accommodating persons with intellectual disabilities along with other disabilities.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2019