Kathmandu, July 23

The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has urged all the local levels to provide it with details of disability ID cards issued to beneficiaries.

An official at the MoWCSC said it had sought details of disability ID cards from the local levels through the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration as per a letter dated July 7. District Women and Children Office under the MoWCSC used to issued ID cards prior to the formation of local levels as per the principles of federalism.

The official said the DWCOs had issued ID cards to a total of 251,336 people till fiscal 2017-18. After that fiscal, the responsibility of issuing ID cards was delegated to the concerned local levels. “The MoWCS lacks details of ID cards issued since the beginning of the fiscal 2018-19. These details are necessary for Nepal while presenting reports at various international forums as Nepal is a party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” the official said.

Section 61 of the Act Related to Rights of Persons with Disabilities (First Amendment)-2018 stipulates the provision of issuing ID cards to differently-abled persons.

As per the ‘Procedure for Distribution of Identification Card to Persons With Disabilities-2018’, a person with complete disability (‘A’ category), severe disability (‘B’ category), moderate disability (‘C’ category) and general disability (‘D’ category) will be provided with red, blue, yellow and white cards respectively.

Blue card holding differently-abled persons and single women have been receiving a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,600 respectively.

They are not entitled to the allowance without ID cards.

Earlier, the MoFAGA had directed local levels to distribute ID cards to the concerned beneficiary without delay, by maintaining uniformity in the format and colour of the cards. Some local levels are yet to start distributing the important document that serves to identify beneficiaries.

The failure of some local levels to issue ID cards in a timely manner has made it difficult for differently-abled persons to enjoy benefits, including social security allowance, to be provided by the government.

A nine-member Local Coordination Committee led by deputy mayor/ vice-chairperson of the concerned local government is responsible for distribution of ID cards to eligible persons on the recommendation of the chairman and a doctor of the concerned ward. The one-page identity card includes details of the eligible person written in Nepali and English languages on either side in the format of citizenship certificate.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 24, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.