First Disability Survey in Pakistan by end of August

After negotiating for a period of six months, the Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and World Bank have entered into a final phase to conduct the First National Disability Survey, TheNation has learnt on Monday.

As the project was supposed to be implemented by the end of March but due to some impediments it was delayed. And now it is being expected to execute the plan by end of August.

In this connection, a high level meeting is being held today (Tuesday) between the high–ups of Ministry and the World Bank to give final touch to the proposed plan.

A delegation of the World Bank would meet the Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education Samina Khalid Ghurki to brief her on the said project and after getting a nod from her the survey would be conducted.

The proposed survey project is a brainchild of the Ministry while the World Bank is the donor agency.

According to an official of the Ministry, Federal Bureau of Statistics would conduct the survey and initially, the survey would be carried out in selected cities of the four provinces, including AJK. In first phase, the survey would be executed on pilot basis, later a full fledge survey would be conducted across the country.

The official opined that the findings of survey would help the Ministry in policy–making and strategising plans and projects to address the grievances of marginalised segment of the society.

"The first ever survey has been planed with an aim to acquire exact data of disability prevalence in Pakistan as currently authorities are without any authentic statistics regarding disability ratio in Pakistan," the official noted.

He was of the view that the project would help getting first hand information about the social, economical and political situation of the special persons in Pakistan and their access to the basic necessities of life, including health and education.

"During the 1998 census disability related questions appeared for the first time. It is anticipated that during the next census, scheduled for 2009, questions of disability will also be included," he added.

However, the official said, "It would not help to get comprehensive information regarding all types of disability prevalence and its causes in the country". "Whereas this survey is one of its kind and never before in the history of Pakistan such initiative was taken in this regard," he added.

India passes free education bill

The Indian parliament has approved a landmark education bill which seeks to guarantee free and compulsory education for children aged between six and 14.

The bill, passed by the lower house of parliament, will set up new state-run neighbourhood schools.

It will also force private ones to reserve at least a quarter of their places for poor children.

Currently about 70 million children receive no schooling, and more than a third of the population is illiterate.

The bill was passed by the upper house last month.

It now needs presidential assent - a mere formality, correspondents say - to become law.

'New era'

India's Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal described the passage of the bill as "harbinger of a new era" for children to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

"We as a nation cannot afford our children not going to schools," he said.

The minister said the bill covers children with disabilities and that the government is planning to set up special schools for them.

"This bill provides for the inclusion of children who are disadvantaged because of disability. The government is not only setting up special schools for them but doing all it can to provide education to them in all types of schools," Mr Sibal said.

The bill also ends widespread practices by which schools impose admission fees on parents to guarantee their children a place and bureaucrats enjoy discretionary powers on deciding who to let in.

Achieving universal education is one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals to be met by the year 2015.

Critics of the bill, however, say it is not clear how the government plans to pay for this.

Also, they say it does not cover children below the age of six and therefore fails to recognise the importance of the early years of a child's development.

They say it also does little to address India's inequitable school system under which there are vast discrepancies between well-funded private schools and state-run schools with poor quality teaching staff and infrastructure.

At the moment India spends a little over 3% of its GDP on education.

Bollywood first for blind actor

A blind Indian is preparing for what is believed to be the first time a person with such a disability will perform a starring role in a Bollywood film.

Naseer Khan, 36, is all set to make his debut in a film called Shadow.

It features him as a gunman with normal vision who performs various death-defying stunts.

His appearance marks a radical change for an industry renowned for its glamorous women and muscle-flexing men who are free of disability or blemish.

'Normal life'

Mr Khan, from Kanpur in north India, completely lost his vision when he was a teenager. He had struggled with partial blindness since birth.

Bollywood stars such as Akshay Kumar tend to be all conquering heroes

But in the film, he plays a swashbuckling character without any obvious impairment.

"I want to prove to the world that having a disability doesn't change anything, one can still continue leading a normal life," he said.

Naseer Khan's action scenes in the film include racing a jet ski, diving, rotating a motorbike, performing stunts on a burning car and jumping off the 38th floor of a building.

Mr Khan, who co-produced the film, stars alongside actors Milind Soman and Hrishita Bhatt.

He decided to take the plunge into the world of acting a few years ago when he happened to be on the sets of a film directed by his friend.

"I thought that acting wasn't a difficult job at all, all you need is time and money," he said. "Of course I have changed my opinion now!"

Naseer Khan belongs to a family of leather industrialists and real estate agents. His passion for Bollywood films brought him to Mumbai and his new career of film production.

"I have always tried to do everything that a person with normal eyesight can do. For example I have received training in leather tanning and also done a course in repairing electronic goods. I can fix video cassette recorders and dish antennas with ease.

"I do take the help of a normal-sighted person while fixing electronic goods. I instruct them on how to repair the product after detecting what the problem is," he says.

And it's not just action scenes - Naseer also dances in the film, an essential requirement for any Bollywood blockbuster.

This, he says, was one of his most difficult challenges since he could not see what the choreographer wanted him to do.

He therefore learnt his dance moves by touching and feeling the choreographer's movements.

"There were times when I felt scared doing dangerous stunts but I was determined to complete them. I thought if a certain scene was integral to the film then it had to be shot despite the difficulties.

"The primary objective of making this film is not commercial success. I just want to inspire people to follow their dreams and aspirations.

"Impossible is not a word in my dictionary."

The film is set to be released later this month.