Parwan: Special people deprived of basic rights

CHARIKAR quota continue to be violated with impunity.

Under the law, a disabled person is one who is physically, mentally or psychologically challenged condition that contributes to a decline in his abilities in economic and social life.

Rights and privileges of the disabled are clearly defined in the law, but this portion of society in Parwan grumbles about government failure to give them the privileges they deserve.

Officials in Parwan acknowledge their problems, pledging to provide all facilities defined in the law to the disabled.

Recruitment

Under Article 22 of the relevant law, a three percent quota in government jobs has to be reserved for qualified disabled people. Fazal Din, who lost an eye in a bomb blast in 1998, has been unable to find employment in the past two years.

A resident of Dolana area, the 25-year-old told Pajhwok Afghan News he graduated from 12^th class two years back and then learnt English language. After months of efforts, he could not find any job.

Deeply shocked and frustrated, he shredded his school certificates and other documents. Faced with severe economic problems, he says: “You need to have strong recommendation and grease many palms to get a job. I wanted to become a teacher but in vain.”

He added: “We eat once a day and have to pay 3,000 afghanis in house rent. I married a year ago and borrowed money from friends, which added to our economic problems.”

Mushtari Danish, 34, hails from the Chinki Alya locality of Syedkhel district. She suffered from polio at the age of two years. She is going through economic problems. She put in a lot of efforts to find a job. At the present, she is a schoolteacher.

“I applied for a government job but was rejected. They told me I being disabled won’t be able to get a job. Their response left me disappointed and disturbed.”

Abdul Hakim Hamdard, head of the disabled social council who lost both legs in a bomb blast when he was 21-year-old, said few of qualified disabled people in the province had been provided employment.

He graduated from 12th class after losing both legs in a bomb blast, an incident that destroyed all of his career plans. Currently lived with a host of problems, he asked the authorities to make sure all disabled people got their legal rights.

Wakeel Ahmad Sohail, newly-appointed director of labour, martyrs and disabled affairs, said 5,140 special people had been registered in the province.

He did not have the exact figure of the disabled people working in government departments. However, he said qualified disabled people were not that many.

Sohail could not give the number of qualified disabled people either, saying the process to ascertain the figure for employed disabled people was set in motion one week back.

He termed violations of Article 22 of the law inappropriate and said provision of basic facilities such as home and a hajj quota was the right of the disabled people, which the government should provide them.

But Shah Wali Shahid, deputy governor, said qualified disabled people were given priority in the employment process. Their job applications were never rejected by government institutions, he insisted.

Lack of facilities in public places

According to Article 25 of the disabled rights law, government institutions are responsible to create necessary facilities for the special people in parks, sports halls, public places and transport.

But people in Parwan said Article 25 of was violated more often than not.

 Hamdard said being head of the disabled council he had to visit government departments where he faced several issues due to the absence of facilities for them.

“Like me, hundreds of disabled people face problems going up and downstairs. At times people come to our help us.”

Mushtari Danish, a woman who is reliant on a walking stick, teaches at the Chinki School. The school has many stairs and she can hardly go to top floors.

“I’m interested in visiting the labor and social affairs department, but I cannot do so because the main offices are located in top stories and I cannot go upstairs easily,” she remarked.

Mohammad Agha, a resident of the Ashtrak village of Syedkhel district, lost both legs in a roadside bombing when he was 18. Now 40, he is faced with many problems. He works as cobbler to eke out living.

Agha, using his bottom and hands for movement, needs help going upstairs at the Bakhtar Bank in Charikar, the provincial capital, to collect 60,000 afs in annual support from the government.

“People show me kindness and help me reach the top floor of the bank, a crowded place I have to visit several times to receive my allowance,” he added.

Deputy Governor Shah Wali Shahid acknowledged needs of the physically-challenged individuals were not taken into consideration in the construction of buildings in the past. But new buildings such as the provincial council office and municipality have facilities for people with disabilities. Future buildings will also have similar facilities.

Shahid confirmed that Bakhtar Bank branch in Charikar lacked facilities for people with disabilities but said efforts were underway to shift the bank to a proper place.

Hajj quota

Article 33 of the law on rights and privileges of people with disabilities requires the government to reserve a five percent share hajj quota for the handicapped.

Hamdard, head of Social Council of People with Disabilities in Parwan, complained 10 physically-challenged requested for offering Hajj, but only five of them were accepted on condition that government would not pay their expenses.

Mirajuddin Majid, director of hajj for Parwan, said no one was financially supported by any organization or country this solar year to perform Hajj. Of 523 people traveled to Saudi Arabia for hajj Parwan, five were special individuals.

The Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs had reserved a quota for five people with disabilities, who are required to pay specific amounts of money, Majid said.

Faiz Mohammad Mukhtar, director of hajj affairs at the ministry, explained no country or organisation had provided financial support to meet expenses of pilgrims over the past 12 years. The quota applies to people supported by Islamic organisations or countries.

But the ministry has added five people with disabilities from each province to the list of people pilgrims. The rest of the special people have to register like ordinary applicants, paying all expenses and waiting for their turn.

Land plots

Under Article 24 of the pertinent aw, municipalities are responsible for offering a 50 percent discount to the handicapped in allotment of land plots.

But some people with disabilities in Parwan protested the refusal of land plots. On the other hand, local officials insisted land plots had been distributed to a large number of people.

Mushtari Danish said she had requested a land plot several times, but the departments concerned did not pay any heed to her applications.

Mohammad Agha’s quest for a land plot also wound up in frustration. He is currently living in a ramshackle house, with a tended roof, in sub-zero temperature.

Hamdard referred requests from 300 people with disabilities for land plots to the refugees and repatriation department last year. But none of them received any plot. However, the department promised granting the pleas.

Aqa Sherin Khalil, director of refugee and repatriation affairs, confirmed receiving requests for land plots. An area would be selected and plots distributed on 50 percent discount to the handicapped, he said.

Land distribution to the special people is underway, with 650 plots allotted in the Bini Orsak area of Bagram district over the past five years. He said the plots were distributed free of cost.

Deputy Director of Education Nizamuddin Rahimi said 20 land plots in teachers’ township in Hufian Sharif area had been allotted to teachers with disabilities. The government plans to create a township for them in the Barikab area of Bagram district.

Meanwhile, civil society leader Mohammad Sabir Safa confirmed the problems of the disabled, saying they had shared their complaints with the officials concerned several times.

He promised struggling for the protection of special people’s rights. According to a Pajhwok Afghan News report, rights of people with disabilities are violated in other provinces as well.

nh/mds/mud

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