UDID card Coverage under 40% pan India;Tamil Nadu Megalaya Odisha and Karnataka 50% – 60% crossed.

Key Highlights

As per the recent data of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MSJE) (2025) UDID card penetration across the country is still less than 40%.

Several states lag behind and only 4 states have shown significant progress, with Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, Odisha and Karnataka crossing 50% penetration.

UDID is a single document identity card and is also available in form of a Digital Certificate which serves the purpose of issuing online certificates with Quality.

Creating a one national database for PwDs.

Equalising distribution of the benefits across states.

Creating files and making entitlements (Health, Education, Transport, Pension, and skill development) portable.

The penetration lag is due to;

Digital gap and ignorance.

Bureaucratic delays in medical certification.

Uneven state-level implementation and outreach.

Significance

Poor penetration means that most PwDs are out of the purview of welfare initiatives including scholarships, aids and appliances, pensions and other benefits.

States with higher penetration act as good models for greater convergence of welfare schemes and efficient governance.

Increases in UDID coverage are vital to accomplish SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Inclusive Institutions).

UPSC Relevance

GS-2 ( Social Justice, Welfare of Vulnerable Sections) : Disability rights , inclusion and governance.

GS-3 (E-Governance, Digital Initiatives) : Identity based welfare platforms.

Possible UPSC Mains Question :

“The success of UDID Initiative is vital to ensure social justice, to PwDs in India. Discuss challenges and suggest reforms. “

PYQ (UPSC Mains 2021 , GS-2) :

“Analyse the constitutional and statutory rights of disabled persons in India.