NEW DELHI: Around 32.38 lakh unique disability identity (UDID) cards have been issued by the central government across 682 districts, as per data shared by the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities (DEPwD) with the parliamentary standing committee on social justice and empowerment. The committee gave its report to Parliament earlier this month.

The 31-member committee chaired by BJP ’s Rama Devi noted that the performance of some states was quite poor. West Bengal was highlighted where just four cards were issued against the Rs 23 lakh released under the project. The committee also pointed out that many states, like Bihar , Assam , Telangana , Tripura and Andhra Pradesh, did not receive any funds till 2018-19.

Data from 2016-17 to 2019-20 showed that UDID cards were issued to 32,38,703 disabled persons. Given that the 2011 Census put the number of disabled people at 2.68 crore, a significantly large number of disabled persons is yet to be covered by the UDID project. After West Bengal, those with very few cards issued included Dadra and Nagar Haveli (25), Lakshadweep (27), Goa (78), Nagaland (204), Sikkim (369), Arunachal Pradesh (584), Daman & Diu (742), Manipur (734) and Delhi (918). The maximum number of cards have been issued in Telangana (4,77,106) followed by Madhya Pradesh (3,57,167) and Andhra Pradesh (3,49,300).

The UDID project was initiated by the government to create a national database of persons with disabilities and also for the purpose of issuance of UDID cards which would be valid throughout the country. The DEPwD told the standing committee that all states/UTs have started implementing the project.

The department told the committee that data of 1.5 crore legacy certificates issued by states had been taken on board in the Unique Identification Cards System, an online portal. It was pointed that states were not re-validating those certificates because of which people had to go to the CMO again.

To overcome this, the DEPwD has asked states to upload the re-validated certificate to generate a UDID card and medical examination would be required only for newer disabilities listed in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. “Even for that, the procedure has been streamlined and norms for constitution of medical teams have been relaxed,” the panel said.

The department said it had given webcam, computer and online password to every CMO so that there was no delay in uploading legacy certificates. For newer disabilities, a team of doctors is required to enable certification. In such cases, the central government has said if a state does not have enough doctors, they could empanel private doctors or take doctors from other states.

