Triveni Goswami Vernal
Registered Special Educator (A64010)

Merriam Webster dictionary defines Disability as “a physical, mental, cognitive, or developmental condition that impairs, interferes with, or limits a person’s ability to engage in certain tasks or actions or participate in typical daily activities and interactions” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disability).
“The meaning of the term disability as well as its nomenclature has evolved over the years. Not all individuals with the same impairment, will have the same experiences nor is a disability, a static condition—it can vary in its degree (mild, moderate, severe), intensity (high/low) as well as its effects on the functional adaptability of the individual to their environment” (Goswami Vernal, Triveni (2023) “RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN INDIA: PROVISIONS, PROMISES AND REALITY,” BAU Journal – Society, Culture and Human Behavior: Vol. 4: Iss. 2, Article 4. at: https://digitalcommons.bau.edu.lb/schbjournal/vol4/iss2/4).

India passed a landmark Act on disability rights with the Rights of Persons with Disability (RPWD) Act in 2016 that encompassed 21 disabilities—Blindness, Low-vision, Leprosy Cured persons, Hearing Impairment (deaf and hard of hearing), Locomotor Disability, Dwarfism, Intellectual Disability, Mental Illness, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Chronic Neurological conditions, Specific Learning Disabilities, Multiple Sclerosis, Speech and Language disability, Thalassemia, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell disease, Multiple Disabilities including Deafblindness, Acid Attack victim and Parkinson’s disease, within its fold.
While the RPWD Act of 2016 has several provisions on access to education, vocational and skill development, as well as access to various facilities for individuals with disabilities, this article will focus on the process of applying for a Disability Certificate and what that process entails, with a special focus on the process in Telangana.

WHAT IS A DISABILITY CERTIFICATE?
Disability Certificate is an Identity Card issued by competent authorities to an individual with any of the 21 recognized disabilities (under the RPWD Act 2016) with a benchmark disability of 40% and above. This implies that an individual with disabilities can avail of the provisions embedded within the RPWD Act 2016, only if the percentage of disability is at least 40%. If the individual has less than 40% disability (Benchmark Disability), then the person will not be eligible for a Disability Certificate.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A DISABILITY CERTIFICATE?
There are several benefits of having a Disability Certificate in India. Some of them are as follows:
1) Access to Government Schemes.
2) Access to Healthcare services
3) Access to Medical insurance/Nirmaya
4) Income Tax benefits
5) Concessions for Travel (train/air)
6) Access to various concessions in Examinations (extra time/getting a scribe/using an electronic device)
7) Access to Remediation /Special Education services in school.
8) Access to financial aid (especially for Low Income Families)

THE PROCESS OF APPLYING FOR A DISABILITY CERTIFICATE WITH A FOCUS ON TELANGANA:
The application for a Disability Certificate is multi-layered and quite time consuming. It involves—
a) Getting an assessment done by a Registered Clinical /Rehabilitation Psychologist (Rehabilitation Council of India, affiliated). The psychological assessment includes various tests, observations and interviews with the parents/caregivers. The entire process usually takes anywhere between 4 to 6 hours.
b) Taking an appointment (on another day) in a hospital approved by the Government of the State (one resides in) that has an approved panel of medical practitioners, who assess the child once again on the basis of the assessment report given by the Registered Clinical/Rehabilitation Psychologists.
c) After a few weeks, the Disability Certificate is issued by the Government with the signatures and stamp of the panel of doctors who assessed the child/individual in the hospital.
In Telangana (and Andhra Pradesh), there is another step added to this process, with the issuance of the SADAREM Certificate. SADAREM is an acronym for Software for Assessment of Disabled for Access, Rehabilitation and Empowerment. It is an online, centralized database for Persons with Disabilities. The aim of the SADAREM web portal is to “generate all the details including the support services that the disabled persons are entitled, based on the need assessment and a record of services provided from time to time” (https://www.sadarem.telangana.gov.in/aboutHome.do). For both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the SADAREM Certificate is the Disability Certificate issued by the Governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

PROCESS OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE SADAREM CERTIFICATE IN HYDERABAD, TELANGANA:
I will share the process of application for the SADAREM Certificate in Hyderabad (that I recently undertook for my son who is on the Autism Spectrum). At the outset, I would like to say that it was a long-drawn process spanning almost 5 months.
Although the initial assessment of the child can be done by any RCI Registered Clinical /Rehabilitation Psychologist, it is recommended that the assessment be done in a Government run Institute like National Institute of Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (NIEPID) (formerly called NIMH) or its equivalent.

PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT AT NIEPID, SECUNDERABAD:
1) There is a Walk-in Out Patient Department (OPD) at NIEPID. The OPD officially opens at 9.30 am, but it is advisable to be there as early as possible, by 8-8.30 am, if one can.
2) Carry a photocopy of the Aadhar Card of the child, along with the original. Also, the copy of a Ration Card, if you have.
3) Submit the photocopy of the Aadhar Card at the counter at the Reception, and you will be given a serial number.
4) Once the Serial Number is called, you will have to make a payment for the appointment or if you want to make the Registration Card, you will have to make an additional payment. The payment for that, takes place in another room, where a person enters the details into a computer, manually.
5) Once that is done, you can go to the respective departments (Psychological Assessment, Special Education etc).
6) For the Disability Certification, the psychological assessment is the main assessment.
7) For a Disability Certificate for Autism, they usually do the Developmental Screening Test (DST), Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS), and Indian Scale for the Assessment of Autism (ISAA). All of these require observation of the child and interviews with the parents/caregivers accompanying the child.
8) Besides these assessments, they might also conduct the Binet-Kamat Test for IQ Assessment. If the child is non-speaking, they might skip this.
9) Once the assessments are over, a report is written, collating all the results from the assessments, in consultation with the Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology.
10) Finally, the report is stamped at the Reception and that is Psychological Assessment Report of the child.
**The entire process takes 4-5 hours, so please take ample water, food and things that the child enjoys, to keep the child engaged.
Once the Psychological Assessment Report is obtained, one has to go to a Mee Seva Kendra and apply for a slot for the SADAREM camp (that is organized from time to time, by the Government).

**Things to Note for SADAREM Camp at Hyderabad**
For individuals under 18, after the assessment at NIEPID, the camp is at Niloufer Hospital. For individuals 18 and above, the camp is at Institute of Mental Health, Erragadda.

THE PROCESS AT NILOUFER HOSPITAL:
1) Reach the hospital by 9 am (that was the time given to us). One can get a free registration at the OPD on the ground floor. The OPD is in the new building. From there, one needs to go to the 3rd Floor, Room number 9 or 10.
2) Once the doors open, they take the documents (photocopy of Aadhar Card, photocopy of the Birth Certificate, Psychological Assessment or the Medical Report, 2 Passport Size photos of the child.
3) A payment of Rs.50/- is then collected.
4) Then, they call each child (with the accompanying caregiver or family), one at a time for the consulting doctor to make his observations. The doctor also consults the Assessment report and fills a form with his observations.
5) Once done, the Hospital is supposed to send the certificate to the Collector’s Office, within a month.
6) One can collect the Certificate, signed and stamped by the empanelled medical board at Niloufer Hospital, from the SADAREM Counter in the Collector’s Office (at Lakdi ka pul).

MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I had submitted the application for the SADAREM Certificate at Niloufer Hospital, after the psychological assessment at NIEPID, in June 2023. The file didn’t move for another two months. Once it came to the Collector’s Office, it was discovered that a signature of a doctor was missing, so the certificate was sent back to Niloufer. After several weeks, the certificate came back to the Collector’s Office, only to be sent back again, as the signature (that was originally missing and now done) was placed in an incorrect space, on the certificate. Finally, after much delay, we got the certificate in mid-December.
My personal experience may have been an exception rather than the norm, but it just goes to show that lapses in the system (that are beyond your control) can create unimaginable delays. So, keep an ample time frame in hand, when applying for a Disability Certificate for your child.

In my next blog, I will write about the Unique Disability ID (UDID) issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India.

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Author Triveni Goswami Vernal

Triveni Goswami Vernal is an Autism advocate, registered Special Educator (CRR A64010) and an Independent Researcher. Her areas of interest include Autism, Disability Rights, Gender, Art and Northeast studies. She is a mum to an 12 year old on the Autism Spectrum.

Artwork “Wild Blossoms”
Acrylic Painting on Canvas Board is done by Artist Kabir Vernal