Wait for pension gets longer for differently-abled

Nalgonda: The negligence on the part of the staff of Sadarem camp, which is meant for issuing handicapped certificates, has caused untold hardships to the differently-abled in the district. Hundreds of handicapped are denied of pensions because of ham-fisted handling in issuing certificates.

As handicapped certificate is mandatory to get pension, the person, the persons with disability queued up to secure certificates from doctors at the District Hosital where Sadarem camp was being organised for two-days in a week.

The shortage of staff to process application online was cited as one of the reasons for the sorry state of affairs.

A resident of Vootkur village Vemula Rajith Kumar, who is afflicted with disability in his right leg, was issued certificate as if he had defect in the left leg. Speaking to The Hans India, Ranjith Kumar said he had applied for reassessment four months ago, but there was no response from the authorities concerned.

About 50 persons, who attended for assessment eight months ago, were yet to get certificates and they were still going round the government hospital for certificates.

A resident of Nakrekal, G Anjaiah said he had attended the sadarem camp eight months ago, but he did not receive the certificate.

According to fficial records, since June 2010, out of 1,06,166 candidates appeared at Sadarem camps, as many as 68,971 candidates were found eligible for issuance of certificates and applications of 29,880 candidates were rejected after assessment by the Doctors.

During the last six months, the applications for certificates had multiplied following hike in pension to Rs 1500. The District Coordinator of sadarem camps S Venkat said after pensions for handicapped was increased to Rs 1500, there was sudden rush on the camps.

Earlier, among those, who attended the camps, about 70 per cent were found eligible for issuance of certificates, but the trend was in reverse direction.