New Delhi, April 5: State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) Ramesh Negi has written to district magistrates to ensure that curfew passes are issued to the caregivers of disabled people. This is the second such letter written by Negi. The first letter was written on April 1. Catch the live updates on coronavirus outbreak in India and other parts of the world.

"It has come to notice that persons with disabilities (PwDs) are still facing problems to get their e-passes and in many cases e-passes are being rejected by the issuing authority/ data entry operator citing remarks ‘not required'," Negi said in the letter dated April 4. COVID-19 Live Tracker: Map The Spread of Coronavirus in India.

The persons with disabilities are applying for e-passes in the category of ''Any other Essential Service exempted by Government''. The letter said no services are specified for caregivers of PwDs in the dropdown meant for Type of Service, which might be a cause for rejection by the e-pass issuing authority.

"A large number of PWDs are not able to access essential services such as food, ration, medicines, etc. in the absence of caregivers. Therefore, it is advised to issue instruction/direction to the e-pass issuing authority/ Data Entry Operator to consider "Caregiver for PwD" as essential services while processing applications for online e-pass," it said. The letter also said that e-passes for caregivers should be processed on priority.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)