Disability certificates prove worrisome for harried parents
Anju Unny, a teacher from North Paravur shared the struggles she had to face to get hearing disability certificate renewed in a Facebook post.
Kochi: The state government’s various measures to streamline the distribution of disability certificates and ID cards have failed to work on the ground with the parents being forced to follow archaic rules for getting and renewing them.
“The validity of a disability certificate document is only for three years and even those children with multiple disabilities have to approach the medical board every three year to get the document renewed,” Noorjahan Mohiudeen, mother of an autistic youngster. “Why cannot the government issue a life-long disability certificate to people with autism and mental disabilities?” worse, the parents have to wait with their children for several days at General Hospital to get the certificate renewed.
“I have been carrying my child from the age of 8 to get the disability certificate every three years. Finally, the medical board issued a life-long certificate recently when he turned 21,” she added.
Anju Unny, a teacher from North Paravur shared the struggles she had to face to get hearing disability certificate renewed in a Facebook post.
The Social Security Mission is conducting special adalats to issue disability certificate and ID cards through simple procedure but the adalats are not being organised regularly, complain the parents. “The state government should to intervene in the matter and initiate measures to make the process simple and fast,” they say.
Meanwhile, a top social justice department official told DC that the department has got no formal complaint regarding the delay and complexities in getting disability certificate. “The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights can make an effective intervention if the matter is brought into its attention. The process can be made simple if the social justice and health departments have been instructed to conduct special adalats in all districts every six months. Two adalats, one at district headquarters and another in a rural area have to be conducted,” remarked the official.
However, sources at Ernakulam Government General Hospital said the medical board responsible for issuing disability certificate sits on every Thursday. “The various tests will be conducted in the morning and the certificate will be signed in the afternoon,” sources said.