What happened: During a session at the parliament house on Wednesday, the speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser announced the introduction of a braille version of Pakistan’s Constitution. He stated that this is a historical occasion in which the country’s constitution is now made available to blind and visually impaired people.
It is a moment of immense pride for me to announce that Constitution of Pakistan is now available in Braille & National Assembly’s website is accessible now for Visually Impaired Persons – both have been done for the first time in the parliamentary history of Pakistan.1/3
— Asad Qaiser (@AsadQaiserPTI) June 30, 2021
Why it matters: According to the United Nations, there are over 31 million disabled persons in Pakistan, with over 1.12 million of them being blind. The first world report on vision issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that more than 1 billion people worldwide are living with vision impairment because they do not get the care they need for conditions like short and farsightedness, glaucoma, and cataract. This was particularly the case in low- and middle-income countries where access to eye care, and general health care, is low. Amidst these challenges faced by the country, an introduction of a visual disability-friendly resource can be considered strides towards improvement for our disabled population. The National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser stated that the introduction of a Brailled version would help the blind community in accessing and studying the constitution. He said, ”I wanted to applaud the efforts of the assembly secretariat in this regard.” He further stated that this achievement has made Pakistan the fourth country in the region to introduce a braille version of the Constitution in order to facilitate blind people. Click here to see more from Propergaanda.