Govt to consider hiring more disabled staff for Parliament - Zaliha

PARLIAMENT | Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said today that the government would consider a proposal to increase the percentage of staff with disabilities in Parliament.

This comes after Lim Lip Eng (Harapan-Kepong) called on the minister to consider hiring more staff with disabilities in Parliament in an effort to increase the percentage of disabled workers in the public sector. 

“I support the move to increase staff with disabilities in the civil sector. I also urge the federal territories minister to increase the number of staff with disabilities in the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

“I deal with DBKL frequently and have not seen any persons with disabilities working there.

“Secondly, we should begin this policy by increasing staff with disabilities in Parliament. I have spent 10 years in Parliament and there have been no staff with disabilities. I call on the government to hire more staff with disabilities in Parliament,” he said during a supplementary question.

Earlier, Zaliha had revealed that the government has not achieved its target of achieving at least one percent employment in public service for persons with disabilities.

This is based on a policy set by the government in 1988.

‘Target not reached’

Zaliha told the Dewan Rakyat today that disabled workers only comprise 0.3 percent of the public sector as of 2023, despite the civil service having the highest number of disabled persons in employment in 10 years.

“In summary, the number of persons with disabilities in the public sector in the past 10 years, from 2014 to 2023, has still not reached the set target of one percent.

“However, according to statistics, the policy has seen an increase over the years from 0.23 percent in 2014, to 0.25 percent (2015), 0.28 percent (2016), 0.29 percent (2017 to 2022), and 0.3 percent (2023),” she said.

She added that the main cause identified for this was due to a lack of applications made by persons with disabilities to enter the public sector.

“Data from the Public Service Commission shows that only 0.3 percent to 0.64 percent of job applications between 2019 and 2023, were made by disabled persons,” she said. 

‘Zaliha’s claim not accurate’

Meanwhile, noted consultant paediatrician, an advocate for disability rights and a member of the OKU Rights Matter Project Dr Amar Singh disputed Zaliha's claim that the main cause was a lack of applications.

Consultant paediatrician Dr Amar Singh

"This may not be accurate. Many apply, but few are even called for an interview," he said on X.

He cited figures from the Public Services Commission in Sept 2023 showing that there was a net total of 5,650 applications under the persons with disabilities categories.

Out of this number, only 46 were called for an interview, only 21 attended an interview and only seven ultimately were appointed to the job.

These applicants include persons with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, visual impairments and hearing impairments, the figures revealed.