Despite being an employee of West Bengal Health Department, David Murmu had a considerable difficulty is obtaining a disability certificate for his son. His son a Class IV student is suffering from cerebral palsy along with a visual and locomotors disability, but the doctors of a State-run hospital insisted that only cerebral palsy will be mentioned in his certificate. Mr. Mumru said that while his son should be declared 90 per cent disabled in the certificate mentions only 70 per cent.
Obtaining a certificate of disability continues to be a problem in West Bengal and rest of the country. The latest report of Union Government’s Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Department of Disability Affairs for 2013-14, points out that only 39.28 per cent differently-abled in the country have access to the certificate. In West Bengal, though the percentage of people with access to disability is 41 per cent slightly above the national average.
“A disability certificate is a basic document for disabled which helps the individual not only to get access to government services but also access his rights to lodge a complaint against any kind of discrimination,” Murliadharan, secretary of National Platform for the Rights of Disabled, (NPRD) told The Hindu over telephone from Delhi.
Pointing out that on December 3, when the International day of People with Disability is observed across India, Mr. Murlidharan said that access of a certificate for all the disabled needs to be highlighted, as the present situation is unacceptable.
As per the last census, there are 2.68 crore disabled in the country certificates have been provided to a little over 1.05 crore persons.
In West Bengal while the number of disabled is over 20.17 lakh the number of those with disability certificates is only 8.27 lakh people. Among the States which have done well in providing disability certificates Tripura has covered 97.72 per cent of its differently-abled population. Tamil Nadu with over 84 percent of disabled having access to certificates is also one of the States which has done well in providing disabled certificates.
However, the situation is grim in States like Nagaland with 5.7 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh with 7 percent and Delhi with only 21 per cent of the differently-abled having access to certificates
“The reservations for disabled in jobs and education and other government interventions have no meaning unless we are able to provide the certificates which serve as an identity proof to the persons who are differently-abled,” said Shampa Sengupta, director of Sruti Rights Centre, an organisation working for the rights of disabled in Kolkata.
Commenting on the situation in West Bengal State’s Minister for Social Welfare Sashi Panja said that the certificates are not given to persons with less than 40 per cent disability in the State. “We have identified about 64 of disabled in the State though we have given certificates to about 41 per cent,” she told The Hindu .
