No doctors at Collectorate to issue disability certificate

 Fallout of confrontation at Tiruvannamalai Medical College Hospital

Differently abled people visiting Madurai Collectorate on Mondays to get disability certificates from doctors have been returning disappointed for the past three weeks since the designated doctors from Government Rajaji Hospital have refused to make the weekly visit to the Collectorate

Citing GRH doctors, officials from the District Differently abled Welfare Office, said the doctors had made the decision as a result of a confrontation between differently abled people and doctors at Government Tiruvannamalai Medical College Hospital in January over issuance of disability certificates.

N. Jayakumar, a resident of Harveypatti near Tirupparankundram, said he had been bringing his autistic child to the Collectorate for the past two weeks but there were no doctors. “There is no proper communication from the officials as well,” he said. A senior official from the district administration said the system of GRH doctors visiting Madurai Collectorate every Monday was introduced in 2012 to ease the procedure for obtaining disability certificate. “Monday being the public grievance day, a large number of differently abled people visit Collectorate with their grievances. Hence, it was thought it will be easier if the doctors are also available to issue disability certificate,” the official said.
He pointed out that the differently abled people could otherwise visit a ward designated for this purpose in the GRH, where a team of doctors will be available every Thursday. “Since the doctors have stopped coming here, we are asking the differently abled people to visit the GRH on Thursday. However, only 70 or 80 people can be examined in a day. People will therefore have to wait longer to get the certificate,” he added.

When contacted, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao said the issue had been taken up with the GRH Dean and assured that the doctors would be available on the Collectorate premises from next week.
A senior official from GRH, however, said that the decision to stop the Monday visits to Collectorate was not merely because of the Tiruvannamalai incident. “There are practical difficulties. There are certain disabilities, like hearing impairment, which cannot be checked properly without adequate facilities and equipment which are not available at the Collectorate,” he said.

He added that in most of the districts, including Tiruvannamalai, the check up for disability certificates happened only in the hospital premises.