Pune: Sassoon General Hospital (SGH) and BJ Medical College (BJMC) have stopped issuing disability certificates citing technical glitches in the central government’s website for registration of persons with disabilities (PwDs). With no clear directions from the Centre, the hospital authorities are unable to tell when the service will resume, said officials on Sunday.
Hence, PwDs are unable to get certificates.
“The central government’s website is down since May 1,” said Dr Vinayak Kale, dean, BJMC and SGH.
According to officials, PwDs have to register on the government portal with the unique disability identity (UDID) Card details and get hospital information and appointment to visit. After medical examination and evaluation, the details are uploaded by doctors on the portal before disability certificates are issued to them. At SGH, the service is available on three days—Monday, Wednesday and Friday and around 450 PwDs visit the hospital every week to get the certificates.
Dr Yallapa Jadhav, medical superintendent, SGH, said, “As the portal is run by the central government, we cannot comment on when it will be functional again. The hospital and PwDs have observed the issue since May 1. As SGH has several medical specialties many PwDs visit for certificates and evaluation. We urge them to contact us before coming to the hospital to avoid inconvenience.”