Mysuru: The disabled residents of Mysuru district are facing a lot of problems and their issues have gone unanswered due to the absence of a permanent District Disabled Welfare Officer.
Although several government schemes have been introduced for the disabled, the lack of a Disabled Welfare Officer has ensured that such schemes never reach the intended beneficiaries. Only 6,000 out of 60,000 disabled people living within the district possess a Unique Disability ID (UDID).
Several demands have been made asking the district administration to set up a centre tasked with issuing UDIDs across all the taluks of the district.
Mysuru Federation for Differently Abled President Prabhuswamy said, “People know that the government is providing many facilities to us but in reality, these schemes are just on paper. For example, the Deputy Commissioner must preside over a monthly meeting but the DC says that he can’t take up a meeting every month due to his busy schedule. At least 10 per cent of our issues will be solved with monthly meetings.”
“We haven’t had a permanent District Disabled Welfare Officer for more than ten years as the officers are posted on a deputation basis. After working for a few months, these officers go back to their parental departments due to which our issues are not being addressed,” he added.
Prabhuswamy further requested the DC to appoint a permanent District Disabled Welfare Officer.
Speaking on the matter, Karnataka Disabilities Commissioner VS Basavaraju said, “During a recent meeting with the disabled people, I have come to know about the absence of a permanent District Disabled Welfare Officer. Keeping in mind that Mysuru is a big district, I will try to bring this issue to the notice of the state government and will do my level best.”
Advocating for a UDID verification centre to be set up at every taluk, Prabhuswamy said, “The UDID project for disabled people is being implemented with the goal of creating a national database and thereby, issuing a UDID to every disabled person. Although the project encourages transparency and uniformity, the certificate verification process must be carried out at the taluk level as it is difficult for disabled people to come all the way to the district headquarters in Mysuru city.
