Before UDID card (Unique Disability ID) was introduced in Meghalaya, there was no proper system to store vital data of Persons with Disability (PwD). Vital data such as personal details, disability-wise, district-wise, education, and employment.

Numerous states involved in working with Persons with disabilities (PwD) did not have any Software that could help store and maintain these data efficiently. It was maintained in excel format or traditional register entry. India had no uniform format of Disability Certificates and therefore created confusion among the states and union territories.

“According to earlier accounts, even the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 1995 or the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 had only seven (7) disabilities. Now the new Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 has defined the types of disabilities from existing 7 to 21 disabilities.”

With newer updates from 7 to 21 disabilities, it was getting harder to track and maintain traceability of Data on Persons with disabilities (PwD). Hence UDID card was deployed nationwide to provide digital accessibility for disabled persons in India. And is now being used in Meghalaya.

Unique ID for Persons with Disabilities project is being implemented with a view of creating a National Database for PwDs and for issuing a Unique Disability Identity Card to each PwD. The project will encourage transparency, efficiency, and ease of delivering the government disability benefits and services to the person with disabilities but also ensure uniformity.

The Unique ID for Persons with Disabilities project has been initiated in the state of Meghalaya, since December 2017. It is a joint venture of the Office of the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, the Government of Meghalaya, and the State Resource Centre on Disability Affairs, Civil Hospital, Shillong; where the SRCDA is the Implementing Agency of the Project in Meghalaya.

• Uniquely identifies a PwD across India
• Create a National Database for PwDs by identifying all the genuine PwDs
• Issue Disability Certificate to uncovered PwDs and PwDs with new types of disabilities under RPwD Act 2016
• Provides a single uniform Disability Certificate across India

• Will have Unique Disability ID across the country
• Can apply online for the issue of Disability Certificate/UDID Card or through Camp
• Walk-in to DMHO or MS Office / CSC / Cyber Café / Notified Hospital / DSWO office
• Instant Status of Disability Certificate/UDID Card
• Gets intimation through email/SMS
• No. of hospital visits reduced
• Well informed about the Welfare Schemes both Central and State

Implemented in December 2017, Meghalaya was the first North Eastern state to start the UDID Project. It is also the first state in the North East to have effectively deployed the project in all eleven districts; no other state in the North East has attained this feat.

Meghalaya has successfully carried out the generation and issuing of UDID Disability Certificates of the Persons with Disabilities at the Civil Hospitals without any formal training or knowledge transfer from the officials from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.