Chandigarh, July 19:
Punjab Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Mrs. Aruna Chaudhary, on Monday, affirmed that the state has gained 6th rank in the country for generating online Unique Disability Identification (UDID) cards for the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).
In a statement issued here, Mrs. Chaudhary said that a total 2,16,932 UDID cards have been issued to the PwDs so far as per the UDID Card Status report, against the target of 3,58,206 given by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. She said that the department has received 3,65,551 applications on UDID portal, out of which 60.56 (2,16,932) UDID cards have been issued to the persons with disabilities after scrutinizing and verification of the documents with the concerted efforts of Department of Social Security, Women and Child Development and Department of Health & Family Welfare, which brought the status of ‘Surging Ahead State’ for Punjab in this project. The Minister said that the department has so far dispatched 1,84,650 UDID cards to the eligible beneficiaries, which becomes 92.72 per cent of the total dispatched cards.
Mrs. Chaudhary said, we could only be enable to achieve the 6th rank in India for generating UDID cards only with the dedicated staff, adding that the department has expedited the process for generating remaining UDID cards so as to empowering the PwDs for deriving benefits under various government schemes in a easy and transparent manner.
The Cabinet Minister further added that the state government has recently approved the Punjab Divyangjan Shaktikaran Yojana (PDSY) to empower Divyangjan of the state and provide a supportive environment to them. She informed that the persons with disabilities will not require carrying multiple documents as the UDID card has all the necessary details, which can be decoded with the help of a reader. She also appealed to the eligible persons to put their step forward for generating the card and inform the concerned District Social Security Officers and health officials so that the department can be able to generate the cards and ensured benefits to them at the earliest.
