Bengaluru man with sight issues, but denied disability card

BENGALURU: Twenty-seven-year-old Raghav (name changed) from Bengaluru, who has no vision in his right eye and also suffers from dyslexia, has not been able to get a disability card as his conditions are just below the minimum 40% eligibility criteria. 

He has consulted multiple doctors in the city including those from KC General Hospital, Sankara Eye Hospital, Minto Eye Hospital and NIMHANS. He has been diagnosed differently in different places with extreme myopia, and even 35% eye disability. However, 40% is the minimum requirement for a person to be eligible for a disability certificate for availing of the advantages of government schemes. 

Raghav claims that NIMHANS denied him the disability certificate, stating that he is above 18 years old and can speak fluently, making him ineligible for getting a certificate for dyslexia. But NIMHANS doctors and even officials from the department for the empowerment of persons with disabilities said there are no such age criteria. He failed the 12th standard exam twice and took even longer to graduate as he faced difficulties in understanding numbers and possessed slower grasping power compared to other normal children. The disabled certificate would help him get an education and employment benefits which he is currently deprived of, he said. 

Post his father’s passing in 2018, the family faced a major financial crisis. At that time, he even worked as a sex worker to buy basic necessities and pay bills including his tuition fees. He is currently working at an NGO.

VS Basavaraj, ex-commissioner with the disabilities department, said the eligibility standards are not set at the state level. However, any person with a similar issue can apply for a multiple disability card which will bring them under the eligibility criteria.