Autistic Patients Denied Financial Aid By Shalet Jimmy
Published: 02nd August 2014 07:40 AM KOCHI: The government order (GO) issued two years ago clarifies that family income should not be a criterion for giving away the Ashwas Kiran aid, the monthly financial assistance provided by the Social Security Mission to patients belonging to four categories - those suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and multiple disability. But, much to the dismay of autistic patients, the majority of them are denied the benefit. Their applications are often dismissed, saying that the aid is provided only to bedridden patients. It was a clause that existed before the GO was issued in 2012. “There are many Anganwadi supervisors and teachers who demand many several documents from the autistic patients, even after depriving them of their benefits, putting them in extreme trouble,” said P D George, director of planning at Parivar, a parents’ organisation for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. “The officials are literally harassing the applicants. While many of them are denied benefits outrightly, the officials demand various documents to process the application for some others. For instance, they demand photographs which show that the patient is confined to bed, even though the patient possesses every other validating document,” he said. “Some of the officials even reject the plea of the patients saying that they are availing themselves of many other benefits. But there is no such condition,” he said. The GO-60/2012 was issued on October 11, 2012, and the assistance amount was fixed at `525. But, they have not processed applications received since September 2013. Shaziya, mother of an autistic child, said her application was brushed aside by an official, saying that the child could not get the benefit as it was enrolled in a school. “But, I need to be with my child all the time, which is equivalent to being bedridden,” she said. There are parents who have even changed jobs timing. “Saraswathi, who works in the Postal Department, changed to night shift as she needs to be with her child for therapy and acupuncture,” said Anitha, a staff at an institution in Kochi that proffers treatment for the specially challenged children. Dr T P Ashraf, Kerala Social Security Mission executive director, said the mission had not received any complaint so far. “But, we will take action on it, and as a primary step we will request the director of the Social Justice Department to issue a circular reiterating the facts in the GO released in 2012. The only document needed in such cases will be the medical certificate attested by a government doctor,” he said. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
