The Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled said it has allocated more than 13 billion Afghanis to pay six-months’ worth of compensation for the nation’s disabled people.
Kalimullah Afghan, head of the finance department of the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled, speaking at a press conference, said that the process of distributing the funds to the disabled will begin.
“It has been 17 days that the process of paying specific salaries for every disabled person, based on the nature of their disability, has started and it keeps ongoing,” he said.
“Once again, we call on all the countries of the world to release the money of the disabled and orphans; this is their money, not the money of the authorities of the Islamic Emirate,” said Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Deputy Minister of Martyrs and Disabled.
Meanwhile, some disabled persons said it has been months that they have not been paid and they are facing many economic challenges.
Zalmi, who is 70, lost his leg after being hit by a rocket in the wars in Afghanistan. Zalmi says he is the sole breadwinner of his family of nine, and is concerned about not being paid.
“In the winter I went to the department of human resources, we got medical examinations. They said your salary will be paid on Wednesday, but it has been several months and I have not received it,” he said.
Abdul Mobin, a disabled person, told TOLOnews that it has been five months since he has received his salary.
“On Wednesday, I went to the bank, they said that in the coming week one thousand people will receive their salaries but we don’t know … They are deceiving us,” he said.
Officials at the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled said that they have identified more than 112,000 disabled persons in the country and have presented a plan to the leadership of the Islamic Emirate to address their problems.
Meanwhile, some disabled individuals in Kabul are complaining about not receiving their monthly support payments. Despite the budget for this year being approved, their salaries have not yet been paid.
Abdul Wasi is a disabled person who was injured disabled 30 years ago as a result of a mine explosion in Kabul’s Paghman area. He said that not getting paid has compelled him to work in order to support his family.
“We used to have a lot of customers who used to come and have tea. Now a teapot of tea is ten afghanis, and there are no customers,” said Abdul Wasi, a disabled person.
Meanwhile, other disabled people in the country are asking the Islamic Emirate to pay their salaries.
“Three to four times, the human resources called us and re-registered us. We were told that your salary will be paid on Wednesday, but 3 or 4 months have passed since then, they said there is no budget,” said Zalmai, a disabled person.
However, officials from the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled Affairs said the process of registering and identifying disabled people in the country is incomplete, and their salaries will be paid in the coming days.
“The families of orphans and the disabled are divided into different categories and each category has a different classification,” said Wakil Afghan, the director of finance and administration of the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled Affairs.
