Kakinada, Oct 13th: The district administration has been taking steps for distributing health cards to the mentally challenged people by the end of this year and to provide them insurance with a maximum cover of Rs 1 lakh. A special drive is being taken up for the purpose, said K. Sasidhar, Joint Collector and chairman of district coordination committee for the disabled welfare. Responding to problems in sanctioning and disbursing pensions through the smart card system, Mr. Sasidhar said things would be streamlined once the weeding out of bogus ration cards is completed.

The process of computerizing documents that contain the details and extent of disability was in progress. Those, who made false claims of disability, would be stripped of their pensions. A minimum 40 percent disability was needed to avail of benefits extended by various departments. On employment support to the disabled by S.C. Corporation, Mr. Sasidhar said 335 applications were received and 152 were formally cleared by the banks. The remaining applications were looked into and necessary steps were being taken.
 
A periodic review would be done on the units to be sanctioned and their performance thereafter to ensure that financial assistance was not misused. Steps were taken for issuing disability certificates to 75 persons through orthopedics department, 30 by the ENT department, 30 through psychiatry department and 45 in the ophthalmology wing in a week. An officer of the Disabled Welfare Department is being posted at the Government General Hospital (GGH), Kakinada to coordinate issue of the said certificates. Assistant Director of Disabled Welfare K. Jeevan Babu, GGH Superintendent Dr. M.B.R. Sarma and other officers were present.