MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that welfare of the differently-abled persons is collective responsibility of the state and society at large which must be carried out by both as a binding obligation.

He said this during his interaction with a delegation of the National Special Education Centre Muzaffarabad that called on him here at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on Tuesday under the leadership of senior Braille teacher Shamraiz Khan.

The president admitted that it was a big challenge for the people with hearing and visual impairments to receive equal opportunities for progress and prosperity, let alone a preferential treatment.

“The differently abled persons deserve access to education and employment as their equitable right and not as a charity,” he said and added: “Provision of equal opportunities will help them stand on their own feet and play a constructive and proactive role in the development of the country instead of becoming a burden on the society.”

Mr Khan claimed that it was among the priorities of the AJK government to provide equal opportunities to special people and make them useful and dignified members of the society.

No leniency would be shown in this regard, he vowed.

Earlier, the delegation informed the president that as many as 278 special children were being imparted education at the centre, a job he commended as a highly appreciable initiative.

The delegation also apprised the president of their demands, which included grant of health allowance to the teachers imparting education to special children, provision of adequate teaching staff to the center, implementation of employment quota reserved for the differently-abled persons in public sector, training of teachers and establishment of Braille printing press for visually impaired persons.

Assuring them of a favourable consideration, the president said he would convey their demands to the government departments concerned with a direction for an early redress.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2021