Punjab obtained sixth spot for producing distinctive disability IDs: Aruna Chaudhary

CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s Social Security, Women’s and Child Development Minister Aruna Chaudhary confirmed Monday that the state ranks 6th in the country for creating online Unique Disability Identification (UDID) cards for people with disabilities (PwDs).

In a statement posted here, Ms. Chaudhary said that, according to the UDID Card Status Report, a total of 2, 16,932 UDID cards have been issued to the PwDs against those by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment of People with Disabilities. She said the Department received 3, 65, 551 requests on the UDID portal, of which 60.56 (2, 16, 932) UDID cards were sent to people with disabilities after reviewing and reviewing the documents with the concerted efforts of Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development and Department of Health & Family Welfare, which earned Punjab the status of a “Surging Ahead State” in this project. The minister said the department has so far sent 1,846,650 UDID cards to eligible beneficiaries, representing 92.72 percent of the total cards sent.

Ms. Chaudhary said that only with the dedicated staff could we get ranked 6th in India for UDID card generation, adding that the department has expedited the process of generating the remaining UDID cards to accommodate the PwDs enable benefits under various government programs in a simple and transparent manner.

The cabinet minister added that the state government recently approved the Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojana (PDSY) to strengthen divyangjan of the state and provide them with a supportive environment. She said that people with disabilities do not have to carry multiple documents with them as the UDID card contains all the necessary details that can be decrypted with the help of a reader. She also appealed to those eligible to take their steps to create the card and to inform the affected district social security and health officials so that the department can create the cards and guarantee them the benefits at the earliest.