Commission wants Aadhar cards for disabled children

18.04.2017
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR), on Monday, directed the chief secretary to make Aadhar cards for all the mentally challenged, deaf and dumb and handicapped children of the state on a priority basis. SCPR officials said that the move was necessary in order to safeguard children from human trafficking.

"There are rising cases of unclaimed orphan mentally/physically challenged children being seen on the streets. They are one of the most susceptible group of people in our society who can be exploited for forced organ donation or into human/body trafficking. Therefore, it is important to have all their details so that they can be handed over to their parents, in case if they fail to give some identity proof when lost," said Yogendera Khanduri chairperson of SCPCR, Uttarakhand.

Officials of the commission has cited an urgency to make Aadhar mandatory for disabled children here even as the Centre has already began registration of disabled persons in 13 states, excluding Uttarakhand, for issuing Unique Disabled Identity (UDID) cards. The UDID cards are meant to be used as legal documents and for easy linkage to governement's schemes and services.

According to the central government data on disability in Uttarakhand, the state has a staggering 1.85 lakh disabled persons. The state social welfare department, however, does not have any concrete data on the number of disabled people even though it gives out pension to over thousands every year. "We have data of only those who have come to us voluntarily to receive pension," said a senior official of the social welfare department, who did not wish to be named.

"We are yet to begin the process of biometric data for children from 0-5 years of age in the state," said Manoj Chandran, additional secretary, state social welfare department.

Meanwhile, V S Budhiyal, additional district magistrate, Dehradun, said, "Categorisations for Aadhar cards will not be made on the basis of disabilities."

The social welfare department had, in April 2016, begun the process of implementing the Beggars (Empowerment, Skill Development and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2014. In the first phase, four districts — Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Haridwar — were slated to be covered because of their high population density and rising incidents of begging, especially among children.

As per officials of the social welfare department, the project is being implemented with an objective of locating the parents of these children, as most of them are trafficked, and rehabilitating those who are orphans or physically disabled. The Act however is strictly only in Haridwar.