Railways Photo Identity
Card for Persons with Disability
Learn the process of
getting the Railways Photo Identity Card or the Concession Certificate for the
disabled persons. This card allows PwDs to book train tickets at concessional
rates.
Earlier it used to be
quite discriminatory that all passengers were able to book their railway
tickets online sitting in the comfort of their couch while PwDs needed to go to
ticket window physically for getting a ticket. But now things have changed and you
can see an option for booking a train ticket under handicapped quota online when
you login to the IRCTC website.
At first glance, it looks
quite relaxing that we don’t have to put extra effort for booking a train
ticket for the reason that we are persons with disabilities. But as soon
as you click on the check-box on that reads “I’ll book in special
concession (Physically handicapped and Journalist Passengers)”, a dialogue box will appear.
The dialogue box tells that if you book a concessional ticket you
need to carry a photo identity card issued by the Railways. The
escort or attendant too needs to carry a photo identity card mentioned at the
time of booking. This dialogue box can create a lot of confusion and it is
quite possible you’ll go back and book a general ticket despite having disability. If it was simply a photo identity
card there would not be any confusion because we all carry our Aadhar Card with
us.
This article is intended to give you
the valuable information about the photo
identity card issued by the Railways including the procedure to obtain
it and where to find the required form.
Who is Eligible to Get Railways
Photo Identity Card?
For the purpose of granting photo
identity card, the Railways has divided persons with disabilities into four
categories.
1.
Orthopedically
handicapped person who cannot travel without an escort or assistance.
2.
Mentally retarded persons
who need an escort.
3.
Completely blind persons
traveling alone or with an escort.
4.
Totally deaf and mute
person (with both afflictions together).
In addition to these four broad
categories, the concession is also allowed to persons with certain ailments.
1.
Cancer patients
2.
Heart patient
3.
Non-infectious leprosy
patients
4.
Thalassemia major
patients
5.
T.B. patients
6.
Kidney patients
7.
Haemophilia patients
8.
Aplastic anemia patients
9.
Sickle-cell anemia
patients
The given forms should be certified by
a government doctor with sign and seal. You need to paste a recent color
photograph of yourself that would be attested by the doctor. Getting the certification from a government doctor
though is not enough to be eligible to book concessional tickets under
handicapped quota; this is just the first step.
Procedure for Getting Concessional Railway Ticket for Handicapped Persons
1. Approach the nearest D.R.M
office
You need to visit your
nearest Divisional Railway Manager’s Office with all the relevant documents in
original as well as self-attested photocopies. Relevant documents are:
1. Concession Certificate or Unique
Disability ID (UDID) Card
2. Photo Identity Proof (e.g. Aadhaar Card)
3. Date of Birth Proof
4. Address Proof
5. 2 passport size color photo
6. Attested photocopies of these documents.
NOTE: Concession Certificate
is the certificate issued by the railways by verifying the disability
certificate. The whole problem has been that the Concession Certificate can not
used for booking ticket online. That is why you need Railway Photo ID Card.
When you submit your
application, the envelope containing the documents and the application should
have legibly written heading “Application for issue of Railway Identity
Card for Physically Challenged Persons for Ticketing”.
The application submitted
for the purpose should be addressed to the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager
(Sr. DCM) of the division.
2. Verification of the submitted
documents by Commercial Inspector
Once you submit your
documents along with the application the concerned officer would get them
verified from a commercial inspector. The procedure will move forward only
after the inspector verifies that the issuing hospital, doctor and the details
mentioned are all correct. Only the concession certificate issued by a
government office of the concerned zone will be entertained.
3. Hand over the Photo Identity
Card to the concerned person
After the verification
process is complete you’ll get a call from the D.R.M Office about the date and
time for collecting your photo identity card. The disabled person can send a
representative on her behalf to collect the identity card. In such a case, the
representative must have an authority letter (a handwritten
permission by the PwD and duly attested signature of the representative) in
order to get the Photo Identity Card from the D.R.M Office.
4. De-validation of the
Concession Certificate
While issuing the photo
identity card with unique 11 digits identification number, the D.R.M office
will endorse the information on the original concession certificate by pasting
a stamp with all relevant details. Once the details are endorsed, your
concession certificate becomes useless. Now you have to use only the photo
identity card for all further transactions with the Railways.
Practically using Your Railway
Photo Identity Card
For booking concessional
tickets online you’ll need to use your unique 11 digits ID number and you’ll
have to carry the original photo identity card to be checked on-board and
off-board the train. If you are booking the ticket at the ticket window then
you may have to submit a photocopy of the identity card at the counter. In this
case, too you’ll have to carry the original photo identity while traveling
through railways.
Booking ticket for the escort/attendant/helper
This was all a PwD needs to
know for getting and using the photo identity card issued by
railways.
You may have some doubts
such as – what will happen if you lost your identity card? What will you do
after the expiration i.e. 5 years after the issuance of the photo identity
card? In both the cases answer is same… you will have to get a new photo
identity card. In case you lost your photo identity card, you’ll first
need to file an F.I.R. and take a copy of the same. After this you’ll have to
follow the same steps (as explained above) but this time your relevant
documents will have a new partner – the photocopy of the F.I.R.
In case of expiration of
the card you are expected to start your process of getting a new photo
identity card three months prior to the expiration of the old card.
Comments
Post a Comment