Ministry of Railways has decided to streamline
the procedure for issuing of concessional certificate to physically challenged
persons (Divyang) in case of change of residence and also in some other cases
for the convenience of the passengers. Indian Railways has already facilitated
convenient booking of concessional tickets including online ticketing for the
physically challenged persons. The following decisions have been taken to
streamline various issues : -
1. In those cases
where the applicant has shifted to a new place and his/her concession
certificate has been issued by the Government Hospital of his/her previous
residence, he/she may be allowed to apply to DRM’s office (suppose A) of
current residence. This division will then get the concession certificate verified
by the concerned division/zone (suppose B) in which the Government hospital
falls which has issued the concession certificate. Such division/zone will then
send the verification report to the referring division (A) which had sent the
verification request. Based on the verification report, Division ‘A’ will issue
the ID card to the physically challenged person or to his/her representative
(with proper authority letter) on his/her behalf. However, original
certificates (including address proof indicating current residence) must be
shown at the time of collection of card. The time limit for disposal of the
application/issue of ID card in such cases is two months from the date of
receipt of application.
2. The photo I.D.
card issued to the eligible physically handicapped person is valid for five
years from the date of issue or till the last date upto which the concession
certificate is valid whichever is earlier after which it has to be
renewed/re-issued for which the same procedure as for issue of fresh photo ID
card is to be followed.
As
per rules under IRCA Coaching Tariff No. 26 Para (1) Vol. (II), in certain
cases as indicated above the validity of concession certificate exceeds five
years : -
Ø
In case of permanent disability, the concession certificate is
valid for ten years in the age group of 26 to 35 years.
Ø
In case of permanent disability, the concession certificate is
valid for whole life of the concerned person above the age of 35 years.
In cases mentioned above where the
validity of concession certificate issued by the hospital authorities is 10
years or the whole life as the case may be, fresh verification of the
concession certificate is not required for renewal of photo I.D. card in case
the existing concession certificate is still valid. Remaining
conditions/procedure for issue/renewal of the photo I.D. card will remain the
same.
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AKS/MKV/DK