The Dakshina Kannada district unit of Sakshama, an organisation working for persons with disabilities, on Friday questioned the rationale of fixing a ₹32,000 income cap for paying disability pension. Disability, and not income, should be the criterion to pay pension, it said.

Talking to reporters in Mangaluru, Rajashekar Bhat Kakunje, president of the Dakshina Kannada unit of Sakshama, said that to apply for a disability pension, a person with disability has to first obtain a Unique Disability Identity (UDID) card, which is issued after an examination at the district hospital. When a UDID cardholder applies for a pension, the application is accepted only if they belong to the Below Poverty Line category and their annual income is below ₹32,000. By considering ₹32,000 as the criterion, many persons with disabilities are being denied pensions, he added.

Mr. Kakunje said payment of monthly pension to persons with disabilities has stopped since April as the government has taken up a rationalisation exercise for beneficiaries. “We welcome the process of rationalisation. But this process should not be taken up at the cost of stoppage of payment. The stoppage of pension has adversely affected the care of persons with disabilities,” he said.

Vidyaratna, winner of the State-level award in 2013 for achievers among persons with disabilities, said it was wrong on the part of the government to deny pension to those whose income was more than ₹32,000. With their physical and mental disability, it has become difficult for persons with disabilities to raise their voice against the denial of monthly pension.

An official from the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities said pension to beneficiaries has stopped across the State since April, when the government took up the exercise of revising the list of beneficiaries. The revision work was taken up following complaints that some beneficiaries had submitted fake disability certificates to claim pension. The unpaid pension amount will be released as soon as the revision exercise is completed, the official said.

There are over 22,000 beneficiaries of disability pension in Dakshina Kannada. Those with disabilities between 40% and 75% are eligible for a monthly pension of ₹800, while those with more than 75% disability are eligible for a monthly pension of ₹1,600, the official added.

Published - August 14, 2026 09:02 pm IST