By Our Correspondent
LAHORE : Members of the Punjab Blind Daily Wagers Union staged a protest outside the Lahore Press Club on Wednesday, demanding reinstatement to their former positions or provision of employment in various Punjab government departments.
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The protesters, representing visually impaired daily-wage workers, said they had been struggling for employment since 2019 but had yet to receive a satisfactory response from the provincial government.
Union representatives, including General Secretary Zahran Khan, Azam Khan, Amir Mehboob, Asad Ali, Muhammad Waqas, Tanveer Abbas and Yasir Ali, led the protest and appealed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Social Welfare Minister Shaukat Butt to intervene.
The demonstrators said they were willing to work as naib qasids, qasids or in other suitable positions according to their abilities. They maintained that if permanent or work-charge appointments were not possible, the government should at least restore their daily-wage employment.
The protesters alleged that repeated government assurances since 2019 had failed to translate into practical measures, leaving visually impaired workers and their families facing prolonged financial uncertainty.
They further claimed that approximately 2,500 vacancies reserved under the special employment quota for persons with disabilities remained unfilled across government departments. They questioned why eligible visually impaired individuals continued to face unemployment despite the availability of positions under the reserved quota.
The union urged the provincial government to ensure implementation of the disability employment quota and provide eligible candidates with transparent recruitment opportunities.
The demonstrators specifically appealed to Maryam Nawaz to take personal notice of their situation and direct the relevant departments to restore their jobs or provide alternative employment.
They also called upon Social Welfare Minister Shaukat Butt to play an active role in resolving the matter.
The protesters warned that their demonstration outside the Lahore Press Club would continue until the government announced a concrete decision on their employment demands.
They said they would end their protest only after receiving a practical assurance of reinstatement or provision of jobs.
The demonstrators stressed that employment was not merely a financial necessity but also a matter of dignity, independence and equal participation in society.
They called on the Punjab government to move beyond assurances and take tangible steps to protect the employment rights of persons with visual impairments.
