Date : 18.05.2016

Disabilities bill amended, disability certificates to be valid across country

Disability certificates issued by state authorities may soon be valid across the country, according to the draft of Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill , 2014, which has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office for consultation. 

"We have made a new provision in the draft Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 as per which the Disability certificate once issued will be valid all across the country or in any central government office." 

"In the present act, we do not have a provision like this. So what happens is that if a disability certificate is issued by Uttar Pradesh government, the certificate is not valid in Delhi, or any other state. So if a disabled person changes place or gets married and shifts to a different state, he faces difficulty," Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said today. 

He was speaking after inaugurating the 14th national meeting of the State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities . 

Gehlot said in the draft bill, the categories of disabilities for which benefits of government schemes are given has been raised from 7 to 19.

The Right of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014, which makes accessibility a mandatory requirement under the law, is going to replace the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. 

Gehlot said the government will roll out a web-based unique disability identification ( UDID ) card in the next two months as a pilot project at Ratlam District in Madhya Pradesh. 

The initiative will help in a big way in ensuring the authenticity of disability certificates and eliminate the hassle of having to carry certificates for different purposes, as various details, including the type of disability, would be made available online. 

The UDID cards will include identity details such as name, address, birth date, parents' or guardian names, mobile number, income status, type of disability, bank details, BPL details, and voter ID details etc in English and a local language. 

During the meeting, status of implementation of various provisions of the existing act with focus on education, employment or self-employment, accessible environment, social security etc for persons with disabilities in the states/UTs were reviewed and strategy for more effective implementation of the act was formulated.