A.P. Health Dept. to go for zonal slot booking for disability assessment from July 8

The State government has introduced a few changes to the process of getting disability assessment done and obtaining certification under the SADAREM (Software for Assessment of Disabled for Access, Rehabilitation and Empowerment).

According to a statement issued by Minister for Health, Medical and Family Welfare Satya Kumar Yadav on Sunday, the reforms are aimed at reducing inconvenience to persons with disabilities while ensuring better utilisation of assessment services.

From July 8, a zonal slot booking system will replace the existing State-wide slot booking process. This means that the applicants will be able to book slots for having their disabilities assessed by medical experts only in their zones and not from anywhere in the State. For this purpose, the Health Department has categorised the districts into six zones.

Zone 1 will have the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam and Visakhapatnam; Zone 2: Alluri Sitharama Raju, East Godavari, Kakinada and Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema; Zone 3: West Godavari, Eluru, NTR, Krishna and Polavaram; Zone 4: Guntur, Palnadu, Bapatla, Prakasam, Markapuram and SPSR Nellore; Zone 5: Tirupati, Chittoor, Annamayya and YSR Kadapa; and Zone 6: Nandyal, Anantapur, Kurnool and Sri Sathya Sai.

The Minister also made it mandatory for the public to self-declare their disability, to prevent false slot bookings. Applicants who are unsure of their disability category will have to obtain a certificate from a qualified general physician before booking an appointment.

The department has also introduced mandatory online attendance registration before disability assessment camps. Applicants will have to register their attendance on the SADAREM portal prior to the assessment, and activation of their SADAREM ID will be linked to this process.

The revised slot booking system will resume on July 8, while disability assessment camps at selected hospitals will begin from July 13. Slot booking will remain open until the end of August.