The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : It is a troublesome exercise

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 19, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

It is a troublesome exercise

Sahana Charan

Getting a disability certificate is a tough task

Bangalore: Getting a disability certificate is the only way by which disabled persons can avail themselves of benefits they are entitled to, but obtaining one is nothing short of a nightmare.

Even though the certificate has to be given free by the medical boards constituted for the purpose in government hospitals across the State, those seeking it are often harassed and forced to shell out money for it.

This is what happened to a person with a physical handicap who tried to obtain a certificate from the medical board at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital: first he was made to wait for hours and finally a ward boy standing outside the doctor's chamber asked for details and then openly demanded Rs. 200 for the certificate, saying it would not be issued unless the person paid up.

The amount may vary from anything between Rs. 200 and Rs.500, sources said. This is not an isolated case.

According to Mahesh, a person with locomotor disability who works with a voluntary organisation, "the doctor is supposed to conduct tests to check the degree of disability, but most of the times no tests are conducted. The doctor writes the percentage of disability according to his mood or depending on the money received. If you refuse to pay, the certificate may be issued, but the board will make sure that you come back as a seal or a signature may be missing," he said.

Some handicapped persons from L.R. Nagar slum who went to Bowring Hospital for a certificate had a similar experience.

Complaints

While medical boards at government hospitals in Bangalore are notorious for troubling the hapless disabled persons, some of the district hospitals do not want to take the burden of issuing certificates and send people to Bangalore hospitals, according to the Office of the State Commissioner for Disabilities.

The office has received 10 written complaints on the issue and many more oral complaints, in the recent past.

"Medical boards in a few government hospitals are not functioning properly. The medical board at the Sri Narasimharaja District Hospital, Kolar was sending disabled persons seeking certificates to Victoria Hospital and Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospitals. They claimed that many were compelling the board to grant certificates that declared the degree of disability at more than 40 per cent. We have directed them to issue the document at the district hospital itself," L. Krishnamurthy, Commissioner for Disabilities, told The Hindu.

The State Government constituted medical boards in all district hospitals two years ago to issue disability certificates.

Initially, a fee of Rs.200 was charged to obtain the document, but even after a Government Order scrapped the fee, the persons with disabilities are asked to pay up.

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