Authorities must ensure accessibility for differently-abled persons.

FAISALABAD -- Despite reserved facilities and three percent job quota, differently-abled persons are still living on the margins of their life due to inaccessible infrastructure and bureaucratic hurdles to claim the dedicated services.

Ministry of Human Rights and Treaty Implementation Cell must consider the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and revise the statutes to make it harmonize with international standards.

The authorities must not approve the maps for public and private buildings without accessibility code.

This was an upshot of the interactive session called by the 'Panah Pakistan' in collaboration with Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) and Disability Rights Action Group (DRAG). The session was presided over by Mian Iftikhar Ahmad Chairman Panah Pakistan.

Nazia Sardar research scholar and executive director Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM said, 'the government has reserved facilities and announced quota yet cannot be claimed without disability registration certificate that is a lengthy and complicated process as only District Head Quarter Hospitals in mostly district authorized to do the task.' 'Concerned authorities must allow the Tehsil Headquarters to perform the task for persons with major disabilities such as visually impaired and physically impaired,' she added.

Dr Mozam Bin Zahoor, a disability rights activist, lamented that inaccessible public and private buildings and demanded that the authorities should adopt a policy to not...