Zubair Qureshi
Begum Samina Alvi, has emphasized on bringing differently-abled people into the national mainstream through promoting inclusive education and ensuring their job placement.
She was addressing a ceremony held at the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine to distribute “100 Wheelchairs among Persons with Disabilities” through the joint efforts of Dawood Global Foundation (DGF) and Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association (IFWA).
Samina Alvi said, “Providing education and vocational training to enhance employability of differently-abled as well as ensuring their job placement is essential to help them become self-reliant”.
“We have to take such measures that they may not consider their disability as an obstacle in their development”, she said.
She said it was unfortunate that the majority of the differently-abled could not reach a higher education level despite availability of free education opportunities for them.
She urged the persons with disabilities to make efforts to earn by acquiring loans and starting some small businesses or through learning job oriented skills. “How far can they depend on alms and charity; at last they have to achieve financial independence”, she added.
The wife of the President said that the present government is taking vital steps to ensure protection of rights of differently-abled persons to end the sense of deprivation among them.
Such centers are being established in the country where they can be given skill based training while efforts are also underway for ensuring their jobs in different factories in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, she said.
She conveyed that a memorandum of understanding has also been signed with different banks to provide training to the differently-abled people for their job placements.
