VIJAYAWADA: Mentally challenged and differently abled children staying in child care institutions have been languishing for want of orphan certificate and Aadhaar card which help them get government benefits. Uday, an eight-year-old mentally challenged and differently abled boy, was found abandoned at Gandhi Hill by the staff of Childline. He was sent to the Child Care Institute. Officials there tried to enroll him for Aadhaar card but his application was rejected. Same is the case with many orphans and mentally challenged children, as in most cases, their fingerprints and iris do not get recorded.
The administration is still going by the 2011 Census to arrive at the total number of differently abled and mentally challenged people in Krishna district. As per the census, there are 16,097 visually impaired, 37,043 hearing impaired, 28,739 orthopaedic disabled and 9,782 mentally retarded persons in the district. While there are 10,792 persons with multiple disabilities, 33,012 have other impairments. Most mentally challenged persons suffer from multiple disabilities. The government provides a monthly pension of Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 to differently abled and mentally challenged persons, depending on the severity of their disability. In order to get the pension, one must have an Aadhaar card. A total of 7,718 persons with mental illnesses have enrolled for pension.
However, mentally challenged and multiple disabled persons face hurdles in getting Aadhaar card and pension. Even though some have obtained Aadhaar cards somehow, they are unable to open bank accounts as the banks reject their applications for lack of signatures. The case of mentally challenged orphans is worse, they are unable to secure orphan certificates from district authorities. In fact, the authorities themselves do not have proper proforma or guidelines to issue orphan certificates. In the district, there are six care centres for 295 mentally challenged children. The irony is less than five per cent of them have got orphan certificates while others are still trying their luck to secure one.
Speaking to TNIE, BVS Kumar, chairman of Child Welfare Committee, Krishna district said, “Government should show interest in these children and make the process of extending benefits to them much easier. There are many institutions that are still trying to get orphan certificates, Aadhaar cards, pensions for these children. The state should set up more homes in every district for children with special needs.” Br Augustine, guardian at Nutan Jeevan Bhavan, CCI Nunna, said, “We sent 39 children for Aadhaar enrolment but the applications of 17 of them were rejected as they had a problem in taking fingerprints and iris. We have requested the officials to explore other possibilities to issue Aadhaar cards to the children but it was to no avail. The fate of those possessing Aadhaar cards is no different as the banks are insisting on the impossible — signatures of differently abled on the applications.”
However, district officials assert that almost 95 per cent of the differently abled and mentally challenged children are receiving a monthly pension as well as some extra benefits like wheelchairs, tricycles, implant aids, etc from government. Assistant director, Differently Abled Welfare, AVD Narayana Rao, said, “Aadhaar and white ration card are mandatory for pension. For pension, a certificate is required. Since orphans do not have ration cards, we apply different criteria on them to provide pension.”