Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday said Pakistan is yet to reap the benefits of Information Technology that has played an important role in the socio-economic development of the world.
The Prime Minister, who came to address the World Telecommunication Day, here on the theme of "Connecting Persons with Disabilities: ICT Opportunities for All", was greeted by protesting employees of the two leading telecom operators against what they said unjust practices of the employers.
The employees of one telecom company were protesting against cancellation of their franchises by their operators, who recently took over Paktel whereas staffers of main fixed line operator were protesting for not being given basic pay scale with their protest entering 13th day, a number that reminds of "Chicago tragedy" with reference to workers.
The ceremony was organised by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in collaboration with the Ufone and the Warid Telecom. Addressing the ceremony, Gillani said special persons must be helped to explore and employ these technologies for self-reliance, and urged all stakeholders to make a difference in the lives of special people, urging the industry to be pro-active to fully exploit the resources for persons with disabilities and introduce equipment that caters to the needs of such people.
The ICT sector is considered the engine of socio-economic development all over the world and its benefits should be within the access of marginalised segments of the society, including physically-handicapped people, he said.
The theme of International Telecommunication Union, he said, was more relevant to Pakistan in the perspective of massive earthquake of 2005 that left a great number of people disabled. To get these people into the mainstream, there was a need to introduce special projects for them and enable them through ICT equipment to become a productive force, he added.
"Today, the world is full of opportunities with ICT playing an important role in increasing the productivity of human resources. These technologies can also serve the cause of taking the persons with disabilities into the mainstream human resource pool", he said.
These persons should be enabled to harness the advancements of ICT industry and must be helped to explore and employ these technologies for self-reliance, he added. Information Technology Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said there are approximately 88 million fixed, wireless and cellular mobile telephone connections while about a large number of users were benefiting from over 3.5 million internet connections with broadband connectivity speed.
He said his ministry initiated consultation with the Ministry of Social Welfare and Special Education and NGOs for the formulation of special initiatives to empower the persons with disabilities through ICT gadgets. Later, the Prime Minister formally inaugurated the new service 'PTCL Smart' and distributed awards to the winners of an essay competition organised by the Wateen Telecom.
Comments
Comments are closed.