LAHORE, Dec 8: The federal government is hiding the actual count of disabled people as it will have to allocate a comparatively large amount of funds if it reveals their actual number.

This was claimed by Lahore Businessmen Association for Rehabilitation of Disabled (Labard) President MNA Pervez Malik while presiding over its governing body meeting here on Saturday.

He demanded that the government should provide jobs to the disabled persons according to the quota prescribed for them. According to law, two per cent of government and one per cent of private jobs have been reserved for the disabled but it has been a matter of concern that law is not being implemented in letter and spirit.

Mr Malik said in the developed world, disabled persons enjoyed a special status as they were provided with every possible facility so that they could use their abilities for the well-being of the country but in Pakistan the situation was not that encouraging. “The disabled have no access to government jobs in spite of having a special quota.”

Quoting national census, he said disabled people constituted 2.49 per cent of the total population of the country but according to a United Nations census, they had been10 per cent.

Labard Senior Vice-President Mian Nusratuddin said it was social responsibility of every individual to play his role for rehabilitation of disabled persons.

Joint Secretary Saeed Khan said each businessman should accommodate at least one disabled person in his factory or office to play his role in this regard.

The meeting pledged to accelerate the efforts for the rehabilitation of disabled people through a strategy wherein all segments of the society would be involved.