Letter to the Editor
Online disability certification
It is welcome to note that the Union Ministry of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities has made it mandatory for all States to grant certificates of disability through online mode only using the Unique Disability ID (UDID) portal from June 1, 2021.
The manual disability certificates have been issued by each state in their format. Such certificates create trouble for persons with disabilities to avail benefits across the country. The UDID project was launched in 2016.
Now, Persons with disabilities do not need to make multiple copies of documents, maintain, and carry multiple documents as the card captures all the necessary details which can be decoded with the help of a reader.
The card is the single document of identification, verification of the disabled for availing various benefits. This also helps in streamlining the tracking of the physical and financial progress of beneficiaries at all levels of the hierarchy of implementation – from village level, block level, District level, State level, and National level. State governments should come forward to provide online disability certificates to persons with disabilities.
The concerned authorities should also ensure that all digital disability certificates will be issued under the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 which have mentioned 21 conditions of disability.
Amit Singh Kushwaha, Satna (MP)