Disabled Girl Job Seekers Trapped in KP’s Bureaucratic Delays
Shah Khalid Shah
Bajaur: Uzma Namoos Khan, a resident of Nawagai tehsil in the tribal district of Bajaur, has lived her life with a hearing impairment.
But the disability did not stop her from pursuing education and building hopes for a better future.
With determination and the unwavering support of her parents, she completed an MSc in Zoology from the University of Peshawar in first division.
She later earned a B.Ed and several other professional qualifications, preparing herself for a career in teaching.
In 2021, Uzma applied for the post of CT Teacher in the Bajaur Education Department under the quota reserved for persons with disabilities.
When the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency (ETEA) conducted the recruitment test, she scored 43 marks, above the required 40, and secured a place on the merit list.
Yet, despite meeting the criteria and qualifying on merit, Uzma was ultimately denied the job during the recruitment process.
According to Uzma, “Nine out of ten vacant posts were filled, but one seat was left vacant, which is still unfilled. Neither has anyone been appointed to it, nor have I been appointed.”
When she realized the injustice, she submitted a written complaint to the District Education Officer (DEO) Bajaur. According to her, the DEO asked her to obtain permission from the Director of Education for the merged districts so that her appointment order could be issued.
However, when she approached the director, he verbally told her that it was actually the authority of the DEO to issue the appointment order.
For nearly a year, Uzma kept visiting the offices of the DEO and the Director. Eventually, she submitted an application to the Secretary of Education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and took her case there, but the situation remained unchanged, with repeated delays. Over the past four years, she says she has received nothing but mental stress.
Uzma’s father, Professor Namoos Khan, retired ten years ago from Government College Peshawar. He said that providing university-level education to a daughter—especially a daughter with a disability—in the tribal districts is extremely difficult.
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“After completing her education, the way my daughter has been deprived of her rightful job despite being on merit is unprecedented,” he said. “For four years we have knocked on the doors of every government office for justice, but nothing has come of it. If my daughter cannot get her rights despite my efforts as a professor, one can imagine the plight of other persons with disabilities.”
When contacted about the case, Bajaur’s District Education Officer (Female), Madam Husan Ara, said she was unaware of the matter because the file had not yet come before her. She explained that the male and female sections of the education department were separated three years ago.
Before that, all matters were handled by the male DEO, and some old records are still lying in that office and have not yet been transferred.
She said that once the records are transferred, the case will be given priority and a final decision will be made.
Uzma said, “If jobs are not actually provided under the quota reserved for persons with disabilities, then what is the point of reserving those quotas?”
She appealed to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Governor, and all elected representatives to immediately fill all vacant seats reserved for persons with disabilities in government departments and spare them further suffering.
A Wider Problem
Uzma’s case is not an isolated one.
Shaukatullah, a 34-year-old resident of Sahibabad village in Khar tehsil of Bajaur, has been partially paralyzed since birth due to muscular weakness. He holds degrees in MA Islamic Studies and Shahadat-ul-Alamiya.
Despite his qualifications and the reserved quota for persons with disabilities, he remained deprived of a government job for four years. After a long struggle, he finally got a teaching job just a week ago.
Shaukat said he had applied in April 2021 for the posts of Teacher of Theology (TT) and Arabic Teacher (AT). There were 271 vacant TT seats, of which five were reserved for persons with disabilities, while among the 37 AT posts one seat was reserved.
In addition, some quota seats from previous recruitment cycles had also remained unfilled.
“The Bajaur Education Department promised that these seats would be given to us under the quota,” he said. “However, they tried various tactics and delays to deprive me of my rightful job.”
In response, Shaukat filed a case in the Swat Dar-ul-Qaza and later in the Peshawar High Court in 2021. After a four-year legal battle, the Peshawar High Court ruled in his favor in February 2025. However, the Bajaur Education Department still did not implement the decision immediately.
He said the department sent his case to the law department, which also ruled in his favor. When the department still delayed his appointment, he threatened to file a contempt of court case.
“After that, they assured me they would appoint me soon. After a lot of suffering and wasted time, they finally appointed me,” he said.
Shaukat added that living with a disability since childhood made education extremely difficult.
“I cannot walk without the support of two or three people. Getting an education in such circumstances is nothing short of a miracle. My family supported me throughout so I could live a dignified life in society. Unfortunately, while laws exist in Pakistan to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, they are rarely implemented.”
Problems in Other Departments
The issue of implementing the disability quota is not limited to the education department.
Hidayatullah, a resident of the remote Barang tehsil of Bajaur, lost the use of one leg due to polio. Despite financial difficulties, he completed a two-year diploma in health technology. He hoped to secure a government job to improve his life.
In March 2025, he applied under the disability quota for medical technician posts advertised by the Bajaur Health Department. However, he is still waiting for his rightful appointment.
He said he had applied for 43 advertised vacancies, and the then District Health Officer had informed them that two percent of the seats would be allocated to persons with disabilities.
“On that basis, two seats should have been ours. I passed the test and interview, but the department did not implement the reserved quota and did not give us even a single seat,” he said.
Hidayatullah submitted applications to the District Health Officer and later to the Director of Health of the merged districts but received no response. He then filed a request under the Right to Information law with the Deputy Commissioner of Bajaur, seeking details of the disability quota shortfall in the health department since 2025, but he says he still received no response.
A senior official at the Bajaur DHO office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that according to government policy a two percent quota is reserved for persons with disabilities. Regarding Hidayatullah’s case, he said all legal procedures had been followed and denied that any injustice had been done.
Conflicting Data
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) report from the 2023 census, Bajaur’s total population is 1,287,900, of which 152,773 are listed as persons with disabilities of various types.
However, according to the Directorate of Social Welfare, Zakat and Ushr for the merged districts, only 46,701 persons with disabilities are registered across all merged districts.
Data from the Bajaur Social Welfare Department shows that 10,600 persons with disabilities are registered in the district. Among them, records of 4,400 individuals have been digitized, while work on the remaining records is ongoing.
When asked about the large difference in numbers, Social Welfare Office Administrator Hayatullah said their registration system is simple and accessible, and persons with disabilities have not faced difficulties registering.
He argued that the PBS census data may not be reliable because during the census enumerators often asked children or less-informed individuals about household members.
“Sometimes people said their parents had weak eyesight or a child was slightly weak in order to qualify for government financial assistance, and such cases were also recorded as disabilities,” he said.
According to him, when people register with the Social Welfare Department they must appear physically or be brought by family members, fill out a form, and obtain medical verification from a designated doctor before receiving a disability certificate and a NADRA disability card.
Role of Advocacy Groups
According to the Bajaur-based organization Tanẓim Bahali Ma‘zoran Bajaur (TBMB), around 12,500 persons with disabilities are currently registered with them. They believe the number could be as high as 16,000 because many people in remote areas, especially women, have not yet been reached.
TBMB Chairman Hazrat Wali Shah said the organization was established in 2008 to support persons with disabilities in Bajaur and prevent injustices against them.
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He said they were satisfied with the disability registration process but disagreed with the PBS data.
Wali Shah added that the organization assisted Uzma, Shaukat, and Hidayatullah in their cases by engaging with relevant officials and advocating for the implementation of the two percent quota. He also personally accompanied Shaukat to court.
Deputy Director of Social Welfare for the merged districts, Ubaid Khan, acknowledged that the lack of full implementation of the two percent quota for persons with disabilities remains an important issue. He said the department regularly holds meetings with different provincial departments to address the problem, though progress has been limited so far.
Wali Shah said that although laws exist in Pakistan, implementation remains weak.
“We follow every case of persons with disabilities and raise our voice at every forum to secure their rights,” he said.
He also said their organization is advocating for increasing the quota for persons with disabilities from two percent to five percent, especially because the number of disabled persons has increased due to the war against terrorism and climate-related natural disasters in the region.
According to Ubaid Khan, the Social Welfare Department across the merged districts has a staff of around 100 people, including three persons with disabilities.
He added that since the health and education departments offer more employment opportunities, they should ensure that persons with disabilities receive jobs according to the reserved quota.
