The income criteria for availing benefits of certain disability schemes in Karnataka is lower than the limit for getting BPL cards, according to the fourth Karnataka Administrative Reforms (KAR) report.
Families with annual income below Rs 1.2 lakh are eligible for BPL cards. But to apply for the 'aids and equipment' scheme under the Department for the Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens (DEDASC), the disabled person's family income should be within Rs 11,500 in the rural areas and Rs 24,000 in the urban areas.
The scheme offers financial support for buying disability aids like hearing and mobility aids.
The same family income limits apply for Aadhaar, a loan scheme with subsidies for the disabled. The report recommends increasing the income limit for these schemes also to Rs 1.2 lakh.
The annual income limit to apply for the 'surgical correction of disability' scheme is slightly better - Rs 25,000 in rural areas and Rs 50,000 in urban areas. The report recommends increasing this also to Rs 1.2 lakh.
According to data from DEDASC, as many as 5,603 people were supported under the aids and appliance scheme in 2021-22, and a total of 44 people for surgical correction.
For the scheme 'motor vehicle for severe disability,' the current income limit is Rs 2 lakh, and the report recommends increasing it to Rs 2.5 lakh.
K S Lathakumari, the director of DEDASC, said the department did receive demands from disabled persons to increase the income limit for the motor vehicle schemes, but not for other schemes. Babu S of the Association of People with Disability (APD) said no income limit should be fixed for basic aids.
The report said less than half the identified disabled people have unique disability ID (UDID) cards needed to avail of schemes.
As per the report, only 5.75 lakh out of the total 13.24 lakh identified disabled persons (43.4%) have UDID cards.
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