Unemployment Allowance to Disabled Persons (Chandigarh)

What is the Unemployment Allowance to Disabled Persons in Chandigarh?

Unemployment Allowance to Disabled Persons is a welfare scheme of the Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Chandigarh Administration. The department states the aim plainly on its scheme page: to give an unemployment allowance to an unemployed handicapped person who has been waiting for employment for an unduly long period, who belongs to a poor section of society, and who needs to be assisted until gainful employment is found.

The allowance is Rs 500 per month. The department publishes one rate table for the scheme, and it lists a single qualification band, "Matriculate and above", against a rate of Rs 500 a month that applies to all categories of handicapped persons. There is no separate higher rate published for graduates, postgraduates or professionally qualified applicants.

This is a small, tightly-bounded scheme rather than a general unemployment benefit. It sits alongside the department's other disability measures, the disability pension, the petrol and diesel subsidy for persons with disability who own a motorised vehicle, assistance for the purchase of aids and appliances, and the issuing of identity cards to disabled persons. All of these are run from the same office in Sector 17-C.

The core idea behind the scheme is that a person with a disability who has finished school or college, has done everything the system asks; registered with the Employment Exchange, kept that registration alive for years, and still has no job, should not be left with nothing at all while the wait continues. The allowance is deliberately described as bridging support "till their gainful employment", not as a permanent entitlement.

Who is eligible for the Chandigarh unemployment allowance for disabled persons?

The department publishes five conditions, and all five must be met together.

You can apply if:

• You are an educated unemployed person who is qualified for a job but has not been able to find employment. The published rate band is matriculate and above.
• Your age is between 18 and 30 years.
• The total family income of your parents does not exceed Rs 1.50 lakh per annum, counted from all sources.
• You have a minimum of two years' registration with the Special Employment Exchange in UT Chandigarh.
• You have been residing in UT Chandigarh for at least three years immediately before you submit the application.

The application form additionally asks you to record the nature and percentage of your disability, with the certificate attached. Across its disability schemes the Chandigarh Social Welfare Department works to the 40 per cent threshold, the petrol subsidy and the aids and appliances scheme both state "40% or above" explicitly — and a disability identity card or certificate showing the percentage is what the office looks for here too.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• You are younger than 18 or older than 30. The age band is a hard boundary, and a long-registered jobseeker who has crossed 30 falls out of the scheme.
• Your parents' combined annual income is above Rs 1.50 lakh from all sources.
• Your Employment Exchange registration in Chandigarh is less than two years old, or you are registered with an exchange outside UT Chandigarh.
• You have lived in Chandigarh for less than three years before applying.
• You are already employed. The allowance exists only to support the period of unemployment.
• You are below matriculation, since the published rate applies to matriculate and above and no lower band is notified.

What documents are required for this scheme?

The application form ends with a declaration to be signed by the applicant and attested by an Executive Magistrate, Gazetted Officer, Notary or Oath Commissioner. An unattested form is the single most avoidable reason for a file coming back.

The form also records caste (SC, OBC or others), sex, and marital status. These are recorded for departmental statistics; the scheme's own eligibility criteria do not restrict the allowance by caste.

How to apply for the Chandigarh unemployment allowance for disabled persons

1. Register with the Special Employment Exchange, UT Chandigarh if you have not already, and keep the registration live. Two years of registration is a precondition, so this is a step to take well before you expect the allowance.
2. Get or renew your disability certificate or identity card showing the nature and percentage of your disability. The Chandigarh Social Welfare Department also runs a separate scheme for issuing identity cards to disabled persons, and a UDID card obtained through the national UDID portal is the current standard document.
3. Download the application form titled "Application For Un-Employment Allowance To Disabled Persons" from the Form Downloads section of chdsw.gov.in, or collect a printed copy from the department office.
4. Fill in every field: name, father's or husband's name, date of birth, the address where you have lived for the last three years, caste, sex, marital status, nature and percentage of disability, educational qualification, total annual family income, and your Employment Exchange registration number and date.
5. Get the declaration attested by an Executive Magistrate, Gazetted Officer, Notary or Oath Commissioner.
6. Attach self-attested copies of the date of birth certificate, the disability identity card, the educational qualification certificate and the Employment Exchange registration card.
7. Submit the completed file at the Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Additional Town Hall Building, 3rd Floor, Sector 17-C, Chandigarh 160017, and ask for an acknowledgement with a diary number.

How do I check the status of my application?

Chandigarh does not publish an online status tracker specifically for this allowance. The practical route is the diary number on the acknowledgement you receive at submission. Quote it when you call the department on 0172-2700372 or when you visit the Sector 17-C office.

Several other Chandigarh social welfare services, including sanction of pension for the disabled, which was launched through eDistrict on 28 May 2017 to are handled through the eDistrict portal at chdservices.gov.in, which does carry an Application Status and a Verify Certificate facility. If your file has been routed through eDistrict, the reference number issued there is what the status page will accept.

Why do applications get rejected, and how do you fix it?

• Employment Exchange registration under two years. This is the most common reason a genuinely unemployed applicant is turned away. Nothing can be done except wait out the balance of the two years, so register early.
• Age crossing 30 while the file is pending. Apply as early inside the band as you can rather than at 29 and a half.
• Unattested declaration. Get the attestation done before submission, not after a query is raised.
• Family income shown above Rs 1.50 lakh. The ceiling counts the parents' income from all sources, not the applicant's alone.
• Disability certificate that does not state a percentage. A certificate that names a condition but omits the percentage will not carry the file.
• Residence proof short of three years. Utility bills, ration card or voter ID that only go back a year or two will not establish the three-year period.

What are the key dates and how long does it take?

No application window is published for this scheme. The department lists it as a standing scheme with no advertised opening or closing date, so applications are accepted through the year. The department has not published a service-delivery timeline for the allowance under the Chandigarh Right to Service Act, so ask for an expected timeline at the counter when you submit.

How do I raise a grievance?

Write to or visit the Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, Additional Town Hall Building, 3rd Floor, Sector 17-C, Chandigarh 160017. The department's published telephone number is 0172-2700372 and its email is dirswd-chd@nic.in.

Chandigarh Administration also runs a Lodge Your Grievances facility, linked from the department's own site, and the department is covered by the Chandigarh Right to Service Act and by the Right to Information Act 2005. An RTI application asking for the status and the reason for any delay in a specific diary number is often the fastest way to unlock a file that has stopped moving.