MULTAN, Jan 12th: Twenty Seven persons with disabilities have completed their training courses in different trades and a certificate distribution ceremony was jointly organised by Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) and Society for Special persons. Addressing the ceremony Sheikh Fazal Elahi President of MCCI said that It is a great feat of the Government that it introduced Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018 and Pakistan is struggling to mainstream its persons with disabilities (PWDs) that constitute 15 percent of its population, according to the World Health Organisation estimates.Over the past seven decades, a uniform national definition could not be framed as successive governments kept changing the meaning of disability.He said that introduction of this law aimed at providing vocational and rehabilitation services to the Person with Disabilities of all the four categories of disabled persons,Provision of Job Placement services to the Persons with Disabilities keeping in view of their aptitude and skills,Integration of the Persons with Disabilities into normal community and overcome discrimination through mainstreaming, exposing the talent and potential of special persons in order to create awareness, positive and accepting attitude towards them in the community.Director Social Welfare Malik Younas Vance said that we are providing training in different trades like Computer, Electrical, Tailoring, Arts & Craft, Wood Craft, Leather Craft,Bamboo Craft, Ref & Air-Conditioning, Music, Braille, Machine Shop, Welding, Canning, Mobile Phone Repairing and Photocopy & Bookbinding besides providing them facility of Hostel, Transport and Medical Treatment.Syed Ijaz Shah a senior member of MCCI said that it was a great honour for us that we are availing this opportunity to serve the handicapped people.He further said that Government was sincere to redress the grievances of the disable persons and inclusion in mainstream.Society for special persons Chairperson Zahida Hameed Qureshi said that our organisation sent more than 400 request letters to legislators for the approval of this act.She said that at least 261 people would be trained in different tradesso that they could stand on their own feet.Mian Rashid Iqbal, Senior Vice President,Aurangzeb Alamgir, Muhammad Shafiq Acting secretary General,Iqra, Faisal Shehzad, Rana Asif and Mehran Nawaz also joined this ceremony.
