Children with special needs are often considered God’s gifted children. Many people believe that God entrusts these children to parents who have the patience, strength, and compassion to care for them and that raising a child with a disability is a test of faith and patience.
However, the question is why must parents of children with disabilities fight the system to secure their children’s basic rights? In the Jammu Division, hundreds of children with special needs face significant difficulties in obtaining Unique Disability ID (UDID) cards and accessing essential therapies, early intervention services, and rehabilitation facilities in government hospitals.
Instead of receiving timely support, many families are forced to run from one government office to another, struggling to access services and entitlements that should be available to them. The Unique Disability ID (UDID) Project was launched in 2016 by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.
Its primary objectives are to create a national database of persons with disabilities and provide them with a unique disability identity card. The UDID card helps facilitate the identification of persons with disabilities and access to various government schemes and benefits.
To obtain a UDID card, a person with a disability must register through the official UDID portal and complete the prescribed disability assessment and certification process. The concerned medical authorities, including the designated medical board or competent certifying authority, are responsible for assessing the disability and issuing the disability certificate and UDID card in accordance with the applicable procedures.
However, when children with disabilities are unable to obtain UDID cards because of delays, inadequate medical psychological assessment facilities, or the non-availability of qualified professionals, their access to essential services and entitlements may also be affected.
A child’s disability should never become a reason for denying them timely healthcare, rehabilitation, education, and equal rights. No Clinical Psychologists in Government Hospitals, No Timely Disability Assessments One of the major concerns reported by most of the parents of children with special needs in the Jammu Division is the difficulty in accessing qualified professionals for psychological assessments.
They reported non-availability or shortage of clinical psychologists in government medical colleges, their associated hospitals, and district hospitals can create serious barriers for children who require timely evaluation.
Clinical psychologists play an important role in assessing cognitive, developmental, behavioral, and psychological functioning. Their professional assessments can help identify a child’s needs and guide appropriate interventions.
However, UDID cards and disability certification are governed by prescribed procedures and the requirements of the relevant certifying authorities. One of the parents of special need child Parmod Bakshi informed when qualified clinical psychologists are unavailable, families may face repeated hospital visits, additional expenses, prolonged waiting periods, and uncertainty about where to obtain the required assessments.
For families from rural and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, travelling long distances to government medical colleges and hospitals in Srinagar Kashmir for psychological assessments can be particularly difficult and financially burdensome.
According to Parmod Bakshi, he has visited government medical college and associated hospitals to obtain a psychological assessment for his son to complete the UDID card process. However, he was reportedly informed that clinical psychologists were not available at these hospitals.
He further stated that the Directorate of Health Services, Jammu, and the Medical Superintendent of the Psychiatric Hospital referred him to Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, for a clinical psychological assessment.
Another parent of a child with special needs, Dr. Richa Sharma, a senior physiotherapist from Jammu, informed me that she has already filed an RTI application seeking information about the pendency of UDID cards and the non-availability of Clinical Psychologists across all 10 districts of the Jammu Division.
However, she stated that she has not received a satisfactory response from the concerned departments, which have reportedly described the matter as not applicable. Dr. Richa Sharma expressed deep concern over what she perceives as a lack of seriousness on the part of the authorities towards children with special needs, persons with disabilities, and their legal rights.
As a single mother of an autistic child, she urgently needs a UDID card to access various government schemes and benefits for her child. Due to the difficulties she is facing in Jammu, she is now considering travelling to Srinagar to obtain the UDID card.
As a concerned parent, Dr. Richa Sharma appeals to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to intervene immediately and address this serious issue. Hundreds of other parents in the Jammu Division may be facing similar difficulties.
Every parent cannot afford to travel all the way to Srinagar, particularly when financial constraints and other family responsibilities make such journeys difficult. Access to disability certification and government benefits should not depend on a family’s financial capacity or ability to travel long distances.
The Government must urgently ensure the availability of qualified Clinical Psychologists, streamline the UDID certification process, and establish accessible services across all 10 districts of the Jammu Division so that children with disabilities and their families can access their rightful entitlements without unnecessary hardship. This raises a serious question:
Who will bear the travel expenses for a parent and a child who must travel from Jammu to Srinagar simply to obtain a psychological assessment? For families already facing financial difficulties and the challenges of raising a child with special needs, repeated long-distance journeys can create an additional financial and emotional burden.
Why should parents be forced to travel hundreds of kilometers to access an essential assessment when the government should ensure the availability of qualified professionals in their own division? The administration must address this gap and ensure timely, accessible psychological assessment services for children with disabilities in Jammu Division.
The government must therefore examine the availability of clinical psychologists and other qualified rehabilitation professionals in government medical colleges, associated hospitals, and district hospitals across the Jammu Division as well as different districts of Kashmir division.
Children should not have to wait indefinitely for essential assessments because the professionals required to provide these services are unavailable. Who Is Accountable? The responsibility for improving access to disability services cannot rest on parents alone.
The Health Department, designated medical authorities, hospital administrations, social welfare and other concerned government departments must work together to address gaps in assessment, certification, rehabilitation, and service delivery.
The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities and provides for measures relating to healthcare, education, accessibility, and rehabilitation. These rights must be reflected in the actual experiences of children and families, not merely in official documents and policy announcements.
The administration should conduct a district-wise assessment of vacancies for clinical psychologists and rehabilitation professionals, disclose the availability of disability-certification services, review pending UDID applications, and establish timelines for addressing avoidable delays.
Regular monitoring and transparent public reporting would help identify gaps and improve accountability. The administration must ensure that every child with a disability has timely access to qualified professionals, appropriate assessments, and the certification process required to access their rights and entitlements.
Children Need Rights, Not Sympathy Children with disabilities do not need sympathy alone. They need qualified professionals, accessible hospitals, timely assessments, affordable therapeutic early interventions services, inclusive education, and the effective implementation of their legal rights.
Their parents should not have to become full-time advocates simply to secure services that are essential to their children’s development, well-being, and future. The most important question is not whether children with disabilities deserve support. Their rights are recognized under the law.
The real question is whether the responsible authorities are ensuring that these rights are accessible to every child in practice. Born with disabilities, children should not be forced to grow up fighting a system that is supposed to support them.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration must address the concerns of affected families and take concrete measures to ensure timely disability assessments, accessible UDID certification services, and affordable rehabilitation and early intervention facilities.
The government must also ensure the availability of qualified clinical psychologists and other rehabilitation professionals in public healthcare institutions. Every child deserves an equal opportunity to develop, learn, participate, and live with dignity.
Their future should not be jeopardized by administrative delays, vacant posts, a shortage of qualified professionals, or the inability of their families to navigate a complicated system. If children with disabilities cannot access their basic rights, who will take responsibility? How much longer must their families struggle before the authorities take meaningful action?
(The author is Child & Disability Rights Activist (MSW). Feedback: [email protected])
