Centre revises SOP for disability verification to curb fake certificates in jobs, admissions
New Delhi (PTI): The Centre has tightened procedures for verifying disability certificates used in government recruitment and admissions, directing relevant authorities to validate every certificate and Unique Disability ID (UDID) card through the UDID national portal.
As per the revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) on October 15, institutions are also encouraged to integrate their systems with the UDID database using an API to ensure real-time updates on applicants’ disability status.
The department will share this API with interested organisations—educational institutes or those hiring for jobs—through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The move comes amid a rise in complaints of fake or exaggerated claims to get disability certificates to unfairly obtain benefits under the reserved quota for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBDs).
Benchmark disability is defined as having at least 40 per cent disability, which has to be verified by a certifying disability.
The revised advisory replaces the previous SOP issued in September 2024 and outlines a stricter mechanism with the aim to ensure that only genuine PwBD candidates—meeting both the legal and functional requirements—benefit from the four per cent reservation in government jobs and five per cent reservation in higher education, as mandated under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016.
Under the updated norms, institutions have been asked to ensure the digitisation of manual disability certificates issued under the repealed 1995 Act on the UDID portal. In cases where an old certificate is presented, it must be validated by the issuing state authority.
The new SOP also empowers empanelled medical boards or hospitals to conduct additional medical evaluations of PwBD candidates to determine their suitability for a particular job or course, using updated diagnostic tools and technologies.
However, the DEPwD clarified that disability assessment establishes only the extent of disability, not a person’s fitness for specific employment or academic requirements.
To make the verification process accessible, the ministry has directed that sufficient hospitals be empanelled nationwide so that candidates do not have to travel long distances for assessments.
In a significant inclusion, the revised SOP also makes it mandatory for every government employer and educational institution to set up an appellate mechanism, allowing PwBD candidates to appeal against the findings of empanelled hospitals if they are dissatisfied with their assessment or suitability evaluation.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
