Financial Assistance for Aids and Appliances for Disabled Persons

What is the Financial Assistance for Aids and Appliances scheme?

Financial Assistance for Aids and Appliances for Disabled Persons is a state-funded scheme of the Government of Maharashtra, now under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyang Saksham Vibhag) and delivered by the Social Welfare offices in every district. The department describes the objective simply: "assistance for purchase of aids and appliances to disabled persons as per their age group and disability".

The scheme is not a fixed cash payment. What the applicant receives is a share of the cost of the specific device they need, and the share depends on income:

• Monthly income less than Rs 1,500, the scheme meets 100 per cent of the cost of the aid or appliance.
• Monthly income of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. The scheme meets 50 per cent of the cost.

The devices named on the departmental page are hearing aids for the hearing impaired; crutches, tricycles, callipers and wheelchairs for persons with locomotor disability; and, for visually impaired persons, tape recorders with blank cassettes for educational purposes up to Rs 3,000. That Rs 3,000 figure is a cap on one specific item, not a cap on the scheme as a whole.

Because the income slabs are stated in monthly terms and have not been revised for many years, the scheme in practice reaches the poorest applicants. Those on casual earnings, pensions or no income at all.

Who is eligible for aids and appliances assistance?

You can apply if:

• You have a minimum 40 per cent disability certified by the competent authority, or hold a UDID card. Under the Social Justice Department's Government Decision dated 13 September 2022, all 21 disability categories recognised by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 are covered.
• You are a domicile of Maharashtra.
• Your monthly income is below Rs 2,000, either slab.
• You need one of the aids or appliances covered by the scheme.

You cannot apply / are not eligible if:

• Your certified disability is below 40 per cent.
• Your monthly income exceeds Rs 2,000. Above this level no share of the cost is met under this particular scheme.
• You are not a domicile of Maharashtra.
• You cannot produce a disability certificate or UDID card.
• You have already received the same device recently under this scheme or under the central ADIP scheme and it has not completed its useful life. Districts check for duplication across schemes.

There is no age limit and no employment condition. A schoolchild, a working adult and a pensioner are all eligible if the disability and income tests are met.

How much assistance is given?

What documents are required?

How to apply for aids and appliances assistance

1. Obtain a disability certificate or UDID card showing at least 40 per cent disability from the district civil surgeon or the notified medical board.
2. Get an income certificate from the tahsildar or an Aaple Sarkar / Setu centre. Make sure it states monthly income, because the slabs in this scheme are monthly, not annual.
3. Get a written recommendation for the device from a doctor, an audiologist or the District Disability Rehabilitation Centre (DDRC), naming the aid you need.
4. Collect the prescribed application form from the District Social Welfare Office, Zilla Parishad. In Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban, go to the Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare Office.
5. Fill the form, affix the photograph, attach all documents and submit the file at the same office. Ask for an inward number and date on your copy.
6. Attend verification if called. The office confirms disability percentage, income slab and domicile, and may refer you to a camp or DDRC for fitment.
7. Collect the aid or the sanctioned amount. Depending on the district, the device is supplied directly at a distribution camp or the sanctioned share of the cost is reimbursed to your bank account against a purchase receipt.

How to check the status of your application

No online status page exists for this scheme, so track it in person:

1. Quote your inward number and date at the District Social Welfare Office.
2. Ask whether the file is at scrutiny, sanction or distribution stage, and whether a fitment camp is scheduled.
3. If the district plans a distribution camp, ask for the date — many districts hand out hearing aids, tricycles and wheelchairs in batches rather than individually.
4. Escalate to the Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare for the district if there is no movement.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Income certificate shows annual income instead of monthly, so the office cannot place you in a slab. Ask the tahsildar to issue it in monthly terms or to add the monthly figure.
• Monthly income above Rs 2,000. No partial assistance is available above this level under this scheme; check the central ADIP scheme instead.
• Disability below 40 per cent on the certificate.
• No recommendation naming the device, so the office cannot cost the sanction.
• Duplicate claim. The same aid already received under ADIP or under this scheme within its useful life.
• Domicile not proved. A ration card alone is often not accepted; a domicile certificate is safer.
• District target exhausted for the financial year, which delays rather than refuses the sanction.

Key dates

The department's current scheme page carries a publication date of 1 December 2023, when the newly created Divyang department republished the state scheme list. The widening of coverage to all 21 disability categories flows from the Social Justice Department's Government Decision of 13 September 2022. No annual last date has been notified. Districts work to yearly physical and financial targets, so an application filed early in the financial year, from April onwards, is more likely to be sanctioned in the same year.

Grievance and contact

• District Social Welfare Office, Zilla Parishad; where the application is filed and sanctioned.
• Assistant Commissioner, Social Welfare Office, for Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban.
• District Disability Rehabilitation Centre (DDRC) in your district for assessment and fitment of hearing aids and mobility devices.
• Persons with Disabilities Welfare Department, 31, 32, 35A – A Wing, 3rd Floor, Mittal Tower, Barrister Rajani Patel Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021. Office number 022-40145176.
• Maharashtra Citizen Contact Centre: 1800 120 8040 (toll free, 24x7).

The application form and processing are free. No agent or supplier can charge a commission for arranging a sanction, and any device supplied under the scheme is handed over against a signed acknowledgement.