The National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD) has released 17,000 new-generation identification cards for Persons With Disabilities in various parts of the country.
Individuals who had registered and issued waiting cards will receive SMS notifications informing them to collect their cards at their respective application offices.
NCPWD Executive Director Harun Hassan while addressing media disclosed that plans are underway to roll out self-registration in a bid to achieve easy and faster service delivery for persons with disabilities.
“In the coming future, we will also explore self-registration as our next frontier of service delivery provided one produces the necessary documents,” he said.
He further pledged to dispatch another set of 5,000 cards within this week adding that the old cards remain valid and in use for now.
According to NCPWD, the new cards are part of the reforms effected in the registration process following the launch of the new registration system during the UN Disability Day last year.
The cards will help to curb fraud, bring the service closer to persons with disabilities and also provide accurate socio-economic data.
During the launch of the distribution of the new cards, Persons with disabilities were advised to visit their county disability offices and get their records updated into the new system.
To get registered, an individual is required to have a recent passport-sized photo, aptly filled registration forms which can be accessed through NCPWD’s county offices, a copy of their national ID or birth certificate, and a copy of their Disability Assessment Report from the gazetted government hospitals with the Director of Medical Services’ signature which has since be devolved to Counties
A disability card qualifies one to benefit from services, rights, and privileges as stipulated by law such as tax exemption, education assistance, and assistive devices.