Times of India: New Delhi: Monday, April 28, 2014.
There is no dearth of promises for the disabled in
the manifestos of both the Congress and BJP. But if the data on the proportion
of the disabled who have been issued disability certificates is any indication,
they need all the help they can get starting with the basics. A mere 38% of those identified as disabled in Census 2011 have been issued
certificates, the basic document needed to access everything from education and
healthcare to job reservation and all manner of welfare schemes.
It comes as no surprise that 'backward' states
like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have covered just about 40% of the disabled population. But the shocking revelation is that the worst
state is the capital, Delhi, where just 22% of the disabled population
has certifi cates. Among worst performing states, just above Delhi, are
Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam and Kerala, where barely a quarter have
been issued certifi cates.
In response to an application filed under the
Right To Information Act filed by Rajiv Yadav, an RTI activist, the social
justice ministry revealed that only 10.2 million disabled were issued
a disability certificate from 2010 till June 30, 2013, which is about 38% of the 26.8 million persons identified as disabled by Census 2011.
This is a small proportion of those identified by
census, but even the census office admits there is huge under-counting of the
disabled and their numbers could be much higher, about 70 million going by a United
Nations estimate. In reality, therefore, an even smaller fraction of the
disabled is likely to have got certifi cates.
The best performing state is Tripura where about 98% of the identified population has disability certificates. Tamil Nadu has
covered 72% of the population.
The RTI query, filed in October 2013, also asked how many camps had been organized in various states for
issuing disability certifi - cates, how many certifi cates were finally given
and how many cases were rejected. The department of disability affairs answered
almost six months later in April this year that "no such information is
available". For the disability sector, streamlining of the system of
certification is a major demand. "No government scheme or welfare measure
is of any help if the basic eligibility document, the disability certificate,
is so diffi cult to get," said Muralidharan, secretary, National Platform
for Rights of the Disabled.
The Rights of Persons With Disability Bill
included a provision for universalization of the disability certificate is
hanging fire. It is anybody's guess when the new law will be passed and when
the disabled can expect to get their basic certification without undue
harassment.
.JPG)
.JPG)
