ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has taken strong exception to denial of opportunity to a blind person, who had applied for post of Assistant (BS-15) in Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). Candidate was barred from taking examination by invigilator on ground that he was blind and was unable to perform duties of Assistant.

“We need to make a special effort for differently-abled people to make them part of our society and enable them to earn their livelihood. However, through such acts, we will make them a social burden on nation. Have a heart!” President as he decided on a representation filed by complainant Suleman Arshad against a decision of Wafaqi Mohtasib.

President termed premature denial of opportunity to take examination by ANF’s staff “an act of maladministration” and remanded case to Wafaqi Mohtasib to hear it afresh on merit with direction to decide matter within 30 days. He termed attitude of ANF’s staff as “reprehensible and smacked of an ignorance bias”. There was no rule to reject a person, that too by an invigilator who was supposed to only conduct examination, without affording him opportunity to show his skill or giving him a hearing. He said that ANF’s stance that a blind man would require an additional person for discharge of his functions and that complainant was not fit for secretariat nature job was rooted in ignorance.

Dr Alvi said that he had given Presidential Awards to blind people who had performed excellently, adding that there were hundreds of cases of visually impaired Pakistanis who had done exceptional work even internationally. 

He particularly mentioned that Yousaf Saleem, a visually impaired lawyer became Pakistan’s first blind judge in 2018 and Saima Saleem made headlines on making Pakistan proud when she addressed UN General Assembly with a strong speech in support of right of Kashmiris to self-determination. In his decision, President said that these basic aspects were not considered and heard by Wafaqi Mohtasib, thus, case was remanded back to it for a fresh hearing and deciding on merit.

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 29 2022

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.