Ability Gujarat

(Project for Identification, Registration of PwDs & Issuance of Certificate)

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Human rights contribute to address the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. And it is inextricably linked to our central mandate of human development, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As per the National Sample Survey Organization, survey of 1991estimates around 1.9 % of populations are disabled in India, and according to the census of 2001 there are 2.13 % of populations are disabled in India and the prevalence of disability in Gujarat state is 2.1 %. As per the estimated prevalence rate, the estimated population of Persons with Disability (PwDs) in the Gujarat state would be around 12 Lakhs. PwDs are one of the most marginalized segments of society when it comes to service delivery; so it became necessary to develop a system as a result of which PwDs get the entitled disability certificates with ease and convenience. Since one of the important functions of State Health department is to issue necessary disability certificate to Persons with Disability (PwD) as per the extant guidelines issued by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. At present, Department of SJED and Health& Family Welfare, Gujarat does not have a system of comprehensive database on total number of Persons with Disability (PwDs) identified and issued disability certificate in the State. Although these services are being rendered at respective levels but a comprehensive database at state level is yet to be created, managed and maintained as an integral part of the system for disable friendly governance. The Department of Health & Family Welfare, Gujarat is committed towards the said cause and is pro-actively taking actions to ensure that Persons with Disability (PwDs) can exercise their rights and avail entitlements. To address this gap, a web based application named Ability Gujarat is developed.
Ability Gujarat, is innovative as it is intended to harness the benefits of ICT to improve effective and efficient delivery of services to PwDs. The project has been designed to cover the entire state of Gujarat. The key component of the project is to identify Persons with

Disability (PwDs) and undertake issuance of disability certificates to the individuals within a specified time period. The application was launched by Honble Minister of SJED and Honble Minister of Health on 10th July, 2012.

Features of Ability Gujarat: Scientific assessment of degree of the disability based on guidelines and formulae. Generation of a computer based Disability Certificate with unique ID along with Identity Card. Will provide details of support services for disabled person The database thus generated will be hosted in the Public Domain which can be accessed online. Query Module will help us to retrieve the information in desired format. Online analytical reports of various parameters related to PwDs can be generated

Persons with Disability (PwDs) can avail the benefits of Ability Gujarat project through following work flow
Direct online registration from website ( www.abilitygujarat.in ) Registration through NGOs- using website/manual forms Manual forms filled by Health workers Applications send by postal services

Registration

Physical Assessment

PwD can visit nearby Public Health Facility for assessment Doctor will varify the legal documents and perform physical asssessment of disability

Issuance / rejection of Certificate

If degree of disability is more than 40% - certificate will be issued otherwise rejection of certificate will be done

Impact and Achievements: Since the inception of online web application total registration is 1, 24,919 (Upto 17th October 2012) and out of this total disability certificates issued to 10,036.

Benefits of the Ability Gujarat: Centralized database will be helpful for effective camp approach Efficient services at hospitals due to digitalization of records Real-time Information about PwDs Easy to avail disability certificate due to Fixed Day and Fixed time approach Reduced per visit time and Less waiting time for the certificate Longer life of Disability records Improvement in the quality of life of PwDs

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