Islamabad, 16 March 2022 (TDI): President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, has called for embracing international best practices to equip DAPS with special skill sets. Eventually, these skills will help PWDs to perform better in the marketplace. Besides, the President of Pakistan urged the Private and Public sectors to ensure a 5% quota for PWDs.
Currently, there is 2% job quota for DAPs in Pakistan at the federal, provincial, and district levels. Approximately, 690 million DAPs live in the Asia-Pacific region. They make up 15 percent of the total world population. But, many of these people are excluded from political and socio-economic paradigms of social strata.
According to available data, DAPs have 50 percent fewer opportunities as compared to other people without disabilities. In the same vein, President Alvi reiterated that steps are required for the financial inclusion of PWDs to make them part of national development.
It is pertinent to note that President Arif Alvi expressed these views while chairing a session on the vocational training of PWDs at Aiwan-e-Sadr and during the launching ceremony of ‘The Challenge Initiative‘. Similarly, Chairman NAVTTC, Syed Javed Hassan, and other government senior officials were present at the meeting.
Along these lines, President emphasized that government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations should join hands for the development of special skill sets of DAPs. Thereafter, he asked National Vocational and Technical Training Commission to bring awareness among the general masses regarding the skills development programs.
Similarly, he reiterated that awareness programs are necessary to encourage people and bring positivity among people. He further advised the training institutions to create network linkages with international and national organizations to meet the market requirement.
However, Chairman NAVTTC, Syed Javed Hassan, briefed the session about his organization’s efforts for the skill development of PWDs. He further mentioned that NAVTTC had provided special training to DAPs. Till today, NAVTTC has imparted vocational training to 318 persons with disabilities.
Further, Chairman NAVTTC highlighted that his organization is taking measures to increase access to DAPS towards the learning resources. In addition to that, the organization is making efforts to acquire employment and marketable skills.
Lastly, the President of Pakistan appreciated the efforts and measures of NAVTTC. Indeed, NAVTTC has a key role in the development of the skillset of people with disabilities. The organization has also ensured further support in this regard.
MPhil Scholar at Centre of South Asian Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore
