Moalims

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Thursday approved appointment of mentors at tehsil level for the guidance of special persons.

The chief minister chaired a meeting that approved various measures for the welfare of special persons.

“The provincial government has taken various steps for the welfare of such people. Special persons deserve special treatment. Their rehabilitation is the government’s responsibility,” he said.

The chief minister said that a Khidmat Card programme had been started for the special persons. He said that under the scheme, the disabled were being provided Rs1,200 a month. He said that registration of special persons across the province was underway.

He said the job quota for the disabled had been raised from two per cent to three per cent. He said opportunities had been created for 950 visually-impaired people and 721 disabled people with higher education at public institutions.

The chief minister said that the registration of 26,000 visually-impaired people had been completed and that they would be given age relaxation up to 10 years for government jobs. He said that special centres had been set up in 13 districts for the rehabilitation of the visually-impaired. The special persons are also entitled to a 50 per cent discount in public transport charges, he said.

The chief minster said that a programme had been launched to help them become active members of the society. He said special people were also being imparted training skills under the Skills Development Programme.

Earlier, the Civil Protection Authority chief executive officer gave a detailed briefing on the steps taken for the welfare of special persons. Provincial Ministers Asif Saeed Manais and Syed Haroon Sultan Bukhari, government’s spokesman Zaeem Hussain Qadri, the chief secretary, the Lahore commissioner and the Lahore DCO attended the meeting.

Education

The chief minister said the government had been working on a programme to achieve targets set in the education sector until 2018. He said that under the Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab programme, the teachers’ attendance had substantially improved.

Sharif was chairing a meeting to review various educational programmes.

He said that appointments of teachers across the province had been made on merit. This had helped improve the standard of education, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15th, 2016.