Centre announces fee waiver for rehab treatment & education of persons with disabilities

NEW DELHI: Aiming at enhancing access to rehabilitation facilities for persons with disabilities (Divyangjan), the central government has decided to waive the fees for registration, diagnostics and treatment at all nine national institutes and 21 associated composite regional centres (NRCs) across states from January 1 for all those having unique Divyangjan IDs.

The benefit will also be extended to those who have disability certificates and are enrolled on the UDID portal, irrespective of the percentage of disability. In terms of benefit to eligible candidates it would mean waiver of fee and other charges ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 10,000.

A special counter will also be set up to assist those who have still not registered for the UDID card. In a letter to the directors of all NIs, secretary, department of empowerment of persons with disabilities, Rajesh Aggarwal, has also asked them to prepare for waiver of the full course fee for those students enrolled in various courses at NIs/CRCs, who are UDID card holders, as well as for those who have disability certificate and are enrolled on the UDID portal, irrespective of percentage of disability.

This will be effective for the 2022-23 batch of students. The fee waiver will also cover all those who are doing two years or more duration courses and are in their second, third and fourth year. “Such an initiative will pave the way for other government organisations to link the UDID card with the benefits to persons with disabilities,” Union minister for social justice and empowerment Dr Virendra Kumar said.

The NIs offer courses ranging from certificates, diplomas, graduation-level programmes and even MPhil. The minimum fee for a certification course is around Rs 5,000 and the maximum can go upto Rs 1.25 lakh for an MPhil programme. According to officials, it is estimated that the number of Divyangjan candidates range between 4-5% in courses and this waiver is aimed at benefiting them.

In 2021-22, over 15.29 lakh beneficiaries reached out to NIs and CRCs for various rehabilitation services and courses. They include students with and without disabilities who are enrolled in courses on a wide range of subjects like caregiving, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and hearing among others.

Officials said that a special counter will be set up at the NIs and CRCs to help the Divyangjans who are still not registered on the UDID portal to apply for it. The latest count on UDID card-holders across the country stands at 87.92 lakh and clearly the Centre’s decision to link all beneficiaries coming to the NIs with the UDID is aimed at bolstering to expand its reach to cover all Divyangjans. As per Census 2011, there were 2.68 crore Divyangjans in the country.