People with disabilities in the district are facing a tough time
obtaining the disability certificate necessary for a slew of reasons.
Every day, around 100 people with disability coming to Sassoon General
Hospital for the crucial document, are asked to come another day. The
certificate acts as a proof of disability of an individual and is an
important document that helps a person seek the benefits, facilities,
rights that he/she is entitled to from the state and central government .
The 'Software for Assessment of Disability, Maharashtra' (SADM),
launched recently to eliminate bogus certification, has developed a
glitch hampering the issuance of certificates at government-run
hospitals in the state. The Sassoon and Aundh civil hospitals are the
only two in the district that generate certificates using the new
software.
The system issues a unique identification number to do away with the problem of bogus disability certificates. It became operational in 42 state-run civil hospitals and government medical college hospitals across the state, a few months ago.
Without the crucial document, a person with disability cannot avail of benefits reserved for them under various government schemes like transport services, medical discounts or employment opportunities.
"The system has developed some sort technical problem which has hampered the work of allotting disability certificates at all government-run hospitals including Sassoon General Hospital. It will take some time to sort out the issue. Technicians involved in the work have also communicated this to us," said D G Kulkarni, medical superintendent of Sassoon Hospital.
The certification system aims to eliminate malpractices, such as generation of bogus disability certificates, which deprive benefits to those with real disabilities. It creates a web-enabled system for comprehensive access, rehabilitation and empowerment through automation, capacity building, assessment of disabled persons and maintaining a decision-support system.
Despite several attempts, disability commissioner Bajirao Jadhav could not be contacted for a comment.
Source : TOI , 28th Nov 2013
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