BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Monday ordered verification of disability certificates of government employees only on the basis of specific suspicion. The directive was issued on the basis of instruction issued by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
In a letter to all government departments in this regard, the Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department stated that there will be no blanket re-verification or reassessment of disability certificates. “Reverification, if required, will be undertaken only when the authenticity of the certificate is doubtful,” it stated.
As per the SSEPD department, the NHRC has observed lapses in implementation of the advisory and standard operating procedure (SOP) which governs the handling of cases relating to persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBDs) in matters of government employment and admissions.
It has asked all departments to strictly adhere to the NHRC directive to ensure that the verification procedure doesn’t create barriers for genuine beneficiaries in accessing their entitled benefits.
In an earlier communication to the state chief secretary, the NHRC had underlined that the advisory and SOP had been issued to ensure that the genuine differently-abled beneficiaries are able to get the benefits.
However, its implementation on the ground in some cases went beyond originally intended as instead of verification based on the validity of disability certificates, some states carried out blanket and mandatory medical re-examinations.
“The issue of mass re-assessment and re-verification of government employees with disabilities raised substansive human rights concerns,” the Commission stated while directing the state to ensure that re-verification and re-assessment be limited to only those with suspicious certificates.
The Commission further pointed out that though the 2011 census had put the total number of differently-abled persons at 2.63 crore in the country, only 1.3 crore Unique Disability ID (UDID) cards, issued by the Centre to create a national database of PwDs and streamline their access to benefits, have been distributed.
Accordingly, it has also directed the state to take necessary steps to issue these cards to the eligible beneficiaries within a timeframe on the basis of the advisory and SOP issued in October 2025.