UDID: Govt for speedy processing of applications

Thiruvananthapuram: With more than 72,000 applications for granting the unique disabilities ID (UDID) being issued to persons with disabilities (PwDs) waiting to be processed in the state and the Centre instructing the state to complete the process at the earliest, the government has come up with instructions to complete the task.
There are as many as 72,715 applications pending before the government as per the latest data. However, as per the disability survey conducted in 2015, which is the base data for ascertaining the number of PwDs in the state, there are 4,12,708 PwDs in the state without UDID. The highest number of PwDs has been reported in Malappuram (49,875), followed by Kozhikode (44,882) and Thiruvananthapuram (40,155). In terms of the applications received for UDIDs, the highest number of applicants was from Malappuram (30,546), followed by Ernakulam (23,982), Kozhikode (23,055) and Thiruvananthapuram (20,859).
Since there are still a large number of applicants yet to apply for the UDIDs, the government has embarked on a campaign mode to get more and more PwDs to get their names registered. In most of the meetings that were conducted in connection with the campaign, people’s representatives had raised the issue that the Akshaya centres do not have a unified rate for uploading and processing the applications and many of them are charging exorbitant rates.
Following this, the government has instructed that the fee that can be charged by the Akshaya centres for applying for and uploading the relevant documents for UDID cannot be more than Rs 30. The rates include the charges for scanning and printing.
The UDID card is mandatory for the PwDs for availing the benefits of various schemes implemented by the Centre and state governments. Those who have completed the registration will be issued an enrolment number and after completion of the scrutiny of the application and the documents uploaded along with it, the UDID cards will be delivered by post.