Published On : Wed, Aug 2nd, 2017

Nagpur becomes first in state to issue disability certificate to autistic children

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Nagpur:
Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) along with District Disability Rehabilitation Centre, Nagpur will be issuing disability certificate to autistic Children from Government Medical College and Mayo Hospital. Issue will be started from second week of August after proper assessment. Making Nagpur the first to introduce the rule in state, the decision was taken after joint initiatives of social welfare department, education department and Zila Parishad.

The issue of disability certificate will help the children of this region avail all the benefits provided by private organizations and the state as well as the central government. Prior to this, the children were provided with a report which was issued from Sion Hopsital, Mumbai after paying Rs. 3,500.

However, now, the certificate will be provided in Nagpur itself by paying just Rs. 10. Other disability certificates include certificates for blindness, partial blindness, deaf, partially deaf, orthopaedically handicapped, mentally retarded and leprosy.

Samarth, Niramaya, GyanPrabha, UddyamPrabha, Arunim Wage Employment in private sector, self-employment waiver, Income Tax-Related Exemptions, Employees Provident Fund, hotel discounts, travel concessions etc. are some of the schemes autistic children can avail.

The issuance of disability certificate has been a controversial issue. Autism has been recognized as one of the disabilities under Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. But no certification process was laid down for autism. However, this initiative has made Nagpur first city in the state to act upon the same.