Govt asks states to expedite issuance of disability cards

An official said Union social justice and empowerment minister, Thawar Chand Gehlot, earlier wrote to all states and Union territories in June to speed up the process.

Of the 26.8 million persons with disabilities (PwDs) identified to get unique disability identity cards, only about 2.1 million have so far got them. This has prompted the Centre to write to all states and Union territories again to expedite the process, according to officials aware of the development.

The Centre’s Unique Disability Identity (UDID) project seeks to create a national database for PwDs and to provide them with unique disability identity cards. (HT FILE)

The Centre’s Unique Disability Identity (UDID) project seeks to create a national database for PwDs and to provide them with unique disability identity cards. The card will serve as a single document of identification and verification of a disabled person to avail benefits such as relaxation in eligibility for jobs and loans earmarked for them.

An official said Union social justice and empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot earlier wrote to all states and Union territories in June to expedite the process. But a recent review showed that the pace of work has been extremely slow. A fresh letter has now been sent seeking “concerted efforts...to upscale the pace of implementation to ensure that UDID cards are issued to maximum eligible persons without any further loss of time”. In his letter, accessed by HT, Gehlot said, at the current pace, it would be impossible to issue UDID cards to PwDs for a long time. He also asked the states to take measures like arranging camps to fast track issuance of disability certificates and UDID cards. Gehlot asked them to organise workshops for health and social welfare authorities to sensitise them for implementation of the UDID project in right earnestness.

A person with a disability, who works for a private company, speaking on condition of anonymity said that he applied for the card in April but is still waiting for a government doctor’s call to assess the degree of disability.