BENGALURU: “I need help. I can’t speak. I can only chat with you on WhatsApp or email. Please help me,” read the social media post by Nitish G C, a 29-year-old with cerebral palsy. The Bengalurean is running from one hospital to another to get his Unique Disability ID card for a month, but in vain.
He said that last week, he went to KC General Hospital in Malleswaram, as he is a resident of the area, and waited for the doctor from 9.30am to around 12 noon, after which the doctor asked him to return on Saturday.
“I then went to Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, and no one was ready to guide me properly. I didn’t know where to go. After roaming around the hospital, someone told me to change my application to Kannada as it was in Hindi and English, and asked me to come the next day,” he said.
He later went to Nimhans where they told him it was already 2pm, and time to shut the counter. Nitish says the plight of many like him would not improve if doctors and staff at these institutes behave in this way. Nitish, who studied till Class 7, is an independent graphic designer. He says, “I am a very independent person. I do my work alone. But it really hurts and I feel helpless when they even refuse to talk to me after knowing I have CP and can’t communicate properly.”
The UDID card is given to persons with disabilities so they dont have to maintain and carry multiple copies of documents, as the card captures all necessary details, which can be decoded with the help of a reader. It is the single document of identification, verification of the disabled for availing various benefits in future, and also helps track progress of the beneficiary at all levels of implementation - from village, block, district, state to national level.
“The card is beneficial but accessing the card is very difficult. What about other disabled people who are dependent and cannot manage to go physically to hospitals?” Nitish asks.