By Mehreen Ayub

People with disabilities (PWD) face discrimination that restricts them from participating in our society on an equal basis such as in the school system, workplaces, voting, participating in sports, and cultural activities, access to justice, medical treatment, and living independently in a community. Mostly Pakistani government neglected to work on their rights even the infrastructure design of all civil, public, and private departments needs to be accessible to all. The government merely reserved the employment quota of just 2% by constitutional law however most of these departments have a deficiency of basic daily facilities.

Rights of Special People

CRPD defined disability as long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis. The convention on rights of a person with disabilities (CRPD) is United Nations human rights convention or treaty to protect their rights and to ensure equality, life with dignity, and respect for their own integrity by providing an appropriate environment.

A figure of People with Disabilities

In the entire world population, 1 billion people are tackling or experiencing disabilities which is 15% of the total world population.  In Pakistan the aggregate figure of disabled people according to WHO is over 30 million while the government figure according to the census report was very low however, the actual figure is still a dilemma.

Types of Disabilities

Globally there are as many types of disabilities as mentioned below with their proper description.

• Blindness and low vision.
• Leprosy cursed persons; (a chronic infectious disease caused by bacteria affecting skin, nerves, upper respiratory, and eyes).
• Hear impairment.
• Locomotor disability (joints, muscles, and bones disorder).
• Dwarfism
• Intellectual disability (reasoning, learning, problem-solving disability also called mental retardation (MR).
• Mental disorder (feeling, thinking, mood, and behavior disorders)
• Autism Spectrum disorder. (ASD) A developmental disorder occurs before the birth of a child.
• Muscular Dystrophy (MD).
• Chronic Neurological conditions.
• Specific learning disabilities.
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
• Speech and Language Disability.
• Hemophilia (Blood disorder) and Sickle cell disorder (Red blood cell problem).
• Multiple disabilities.
• Acid Victims.
• Parkinson’s disease.

According to the above types of disabilities, the Pakistani government is unable to identify the accurate figure for each disability. However new elected prime minister reserved funds for 1 special person’s family in the poverty alleviation program of the Ehsaas program with minimal amount. There are thousands of cases identified by free media in which families suffer from having more than two-three or four special persons having no means of livelihood to avail their basic needs.

During the COVID recession period, the government morale was at rock bottom to provide for the families of special persons as they can’t even identify and access them through proper means.