Wednesday September 30, 2015
Kabul (BNA) Ministry of labor, social affairs, martyrs and disabled said that it had estimated up to 70,000 cards illegally distributed among tens of thousands of false disabled in the country, hoping to bring the culprits to justice, once the exact number was found.
The ministry with its deputy Wasel Noor Mumand said that the figure was feared to exceed beyond what the ministry has estimated, but assured that the exact details would be shared with the media later. “This was not still an exact number, with the ministry making efforts to provide an acute report for how many people have illegally received such cards,” he said. The deputy minister added that more than 600 individuals who have illegally helped to get the ministry’s issued disabled cards have been introduced to the attorney general office. According to him, influential figures involved in such illegal trend are under track down and would be taken to justice if found guilty. Earlier the ministry’s spokesman, Ali Iftekhari quoted an institution, handicap’s findings saying a fact finding committee established in the last three years released its finding that some 700,000 disabled all over the country, from which only 109,000 people—all war victims are now receiving pensions from the ministry, but this was not still clear if the 70,000 people approximated by the ministry with illegal cards were among the said figure practically receiving wage.
According to Iftekhari, some of them received two or more cards from the ministry were among the estimated figure who have not referred since awhile, may have fled the country. The spokesman also said the pensions they have illegally received will be returned to the government budget as well. Iftekhari added that the ministry is trying to establish banking system all over the provinces of the country (except the eastern Nuristan province, where no bank branch has been still activated) to timely meet the problem. The ministry had not still conducted new survey over the subject, but wanted to create biometric system under which real deserved disabled ones could be identified and registered.
Karima Malikzada