MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on Saturday directed Muzaffarabad and Bagh districts administrations to identify and allocate land for establishment of facilities for treatment of spinal cord injuries.

He gave this direction at a briefing by a delegation of doctors from a non-governmental organisation, Scipper, (Spinal Cord Injury Project for Pakistan Earthquake Rehabilitation) here at the prime minister’s house.

The delegation included PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Scipper founder Dr Zeba Fatima Vanek, assistant director Haida Sheikh, director for Pakistan Dr Zahooruddin, regional director for AJK Dr Anam Najam and coordinator for Bagh Sardar Asad Riaz.

While briefing PM Ilyas, Ms Vanek said that her team had been working since 2005 to rehabilitate those who had suffered spinal cord injuries during the devastating earthquake.

“We have been sponsoring 50 people and giving them a monthly stipend of Rs25,000,” she said.

Ms Venak, who is a leading neurologist specialising in Parkinson disease, spasticity and movement disorders, said Scipper wanted to establish rehabilitation and accommodation centres in Muzaffarabad and Bagh districts from donations by the US based doctors in the first phase for the treatment of women injured in the 17 years old earthquake.

She called upon the AJK premier to provide pieces of land for these centres.

The Scipper founder also informed the AJK premier that around 30 to 40 women from AJK were still in their H-8 centre in Islamabad.

Appreciating the services of Scipper, PM Ilyas announced to constitute a two-member committee comprising parliamentary secretaries Javed Butt and Ms Imtiaz Nasim to visit the Islamabad centre and furnish their recommendations for transfer of the women being treated there to Muzaffarabad.

“If the families of those women are not willing to accept them back, an alternative plan should be made to shift them to AJK where the government will take care of them and give Rs 15000 per month to the differently abled persons,” he said.

The AJK premier was of the view that after Muzaffarabad and Bagh, spinal cord injury treatment facilities should also be built in other Azad Jammu and Kashmir districts which would be patronised by the AJK government.

Mr Ilyas asserted that his government was utilising all of its energies to establish a welfare society according to the vision of PTI chairman Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2022