Tiruchi district stands first in distributing Unique Disability ID (UDID) cards in Tamil Nadu with over 99% of people with disabilities having received them.
The UDID is a ‘sub scheme’ by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, India. The UDIDs distributed are intended to make available a national database for persons with disabilities to efficient delivery of the benefits of various schemes implemented by the government.
The scheme was established in 2017 nationally and has since then been made mandatory, as prior to that only a card denoting the type of disability was made available. Were people with disabilities to lose the card, they would have to re-apply for a disability certification which would impact the efficiency and reception of the schemes made for their benefit, said a senior official.
Kanniyakumari and Cuddalore stand next to Tiruchi in distributing UDID cards with over 98% and 95% of the population respectively. Besides the top three districts, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi, Tirupattur, Theni and Chennai fared well by distributing cards to more than 80% of the targeted population. Salem came last with 35% of the population having received the UDID in the district with having a population of 74,154 people with disabilities in the district and 26,001 possessing a UDID.
Out of 46,086 people with disabilities, 45,801 UDID cards have been distributed in the district. Just 132 persons are yet to be distributed with UDID cards sans people pending for migration, said a senior official from the District Differently Abled Welfare Office, Tiruchi.
The achievement is largely attributed to awareness campaigns conducted on college campuses with help from students who filled out forms for people with disabilities, as well as enlisting the help of Anganwadi teachers, and stressing the benefits of possessing UDIDs for people with disabilities.
Radio talks and posters showcasing the benefits of possessing an UDID were also carried out to instill a sense of urgency to avail the benefits of the schemes implemented by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Psychiatrists and other specialists, whose approval is mandatory to allot UDIDs, were trained to screen people with disabilities which enabled the fast-tracking of enrolling people for UDIDs.
Published - September 11, 2024 08:40 pm IST
