'Digital Job Portal' for persons with disabilities to be launched in Sindh

KARACHI: The Chief Minister of Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, has approved the development of a dedicated job portal and grievance redressal system to streamline employment opportunities and institutional support for persons with disabilities (PWDs) across the province.

The decision was announced by the Chief Minister during a high-level meeting at the CM House. Officials at the meeting included Principal Secretary Agha Wasif, Secretary DEPD Tauha Ahmed Faruqui, Sukkur IBA Vice Chancellor Prof Asif Ahmed Shaikh, and DEPD Consultant Samad Channa and others.

The portal, developed in collaboration with the Sukkur Institute of Business Administration (IBA), will include, AI-based job matching, multilingual support in Urdu, Sindhi, and English, and Integration with a grievance redressal system to address complaints promptly.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said the digital portal will directly connect PWDs with provincial government departments, ensuring merit-based recruitment and transparency.

A new digital system will also be integrated to handle complaints, ensuring that the rights of PWDs are protected and their issues are addressed promptly.

The digital systems project will follow a rigorous timeline, with the system prototype expected by February 2026 and the full job portal and grievance redressal modules becoming operational by May and July 2026, respectively.

The chief minister highlighted that the initiative is guided by the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2018, which provides a legal framework to safeguard the rights of PWDs and ensure their inclusion in education, employment, healthcare, and public life.

Under the law, the Sindh government is mandated to provide legal protection and equal opportunities to PWDs in education, employment, healthcare and public life, with the overarching aim of enabling their independent and dignified participation in mainstream society, Murad Ali Shah said.

Important provisions include enforcement of a 5 per cent employment quota for PWDs in every government department, implementation of inclusive education policies, province-wide awareness campaigns and submission of annual progress reports to monitor compliance and impact.