ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court again asked the federal government on Wednesday to submit a proper reply to questions raised in a joint petition moved to highlight denial of constitutional rights to people with disabilities.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Saqib Nisar was not satisfied with the reply earlier submitted by the government.

It also expressed annoyance over provincial governments’ failure to file replies and directed them to submit these within four weeks.

The court also issued notices to the respondents, including Capital Development Authority, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, National Database and Registration Authority, Election Commission and Pakistan Television.

The joint petition was moved in February by Barrister Raheel Kamran Sheikh on behalf of the Inclusive Development Network Pakistan (IDNP), a community-based organisation in Karachi. Petitioners Ghulam Nabi Nizamani, Zahida Hameed Qureshi, Asim Zafar, Mohammad Shafiqur Rehman and Javed Rais, all members of the IDNP, named 20 government departments as respondents.

The issues highlighted in the petition include non-availability of reliable statistics about people with disabilities and lack of education facilities, employment opportunities, public transport and voting rights.

“Pakistan has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which provides a comprehensive framework for the enforcement and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and imposes specific obligations on all ratifying states, but these people are one of the most neglected, marginalised and unrepresented portions of society. They face multitude barriers which hamper their mainstreaming in society,” the petition regretted.

Similarly, it said, a national policy for persons with disabilities was drafted in 2002 and a national plan of action evolved in 2006, but lack of interest and ownership on part of the relevant ministries and organisations of both federal and provincial governments made the two instruments redundant and ineffective.

In order to provide for policy-making, policy implementation, employment and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, the Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance was promulgated in 1981, but it was only a first step because it did not provide an exhaustive framework for the enforcement of rights and equality, the petition said.

It pleaded that the respondents be asked to implement all provisions of the 1981 ordinance, including establishment of bodies/institutions/funds and ensuring employment against the disability quota in all government departments as well as commercial and industrial establishments.

In its earlier reply, the federal government said the enforcement of fundamental rights of the disabled had become a provincial subject after the passage of 18th Amendment. The federal government allocated one per cent quota for the disabled in each cadre/service provided that their names were registered with the employment exchanges of the areas where they lived.

In 2000, the reply said, the government had given a 10-year relaxation to the disabled persons for appointment to posts in BS-15 and below. In 2005, the government also decided to accommodate one disabled child of a civil servant. Moreover, the reply said, a civil servant could avail 720 days as disability leave on medical grounds.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2014