MAPD: Disability allowance hike not a sustainable solution

Increasing the monthly allowance paid by the state to people with disabilities is not a sustainable solution, states Maldives Association of Persons with Disabilities (MAPD).

People with disabilities currently receive a monthly allowance of MVR 2,000.

At the Viavathi Raajje conference on Monday, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih pledged to increase the disability allowance.

President Solih said state authorities were currently engaged in compiling a register of people with disabilities.

While he promised to increase the disability allowance, he did not specify by how much.

MAPD’s chairman Ahmed Mohamed told Sun on Wednesday he does not believe it possible for different administrations to sustain the allowance.

“Though he pledged to increase the allowance, I don’t believe they have the capacity. Because not all administrations can maintain it. They can start it. But they can’t sustain it,” he said.

Ahmed said he finds it more important to empower people with disabilities.

He said that different people will utilize the financial allowance they receive differently, which may not always be the best way.

Its more important to reduce dependency on the allowance and empower them to live and independent life, he said.

A bill to amend the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Provision of Financial Assistance Act in order to increase the disability allowance to an amount within the range of MVR 5,000-7,000 was submitted to the Parliament by Dhangethi MP Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim in 2019. But the bill failed to garner support from the main ruling party MDP, and was rejected. 

An increase in the disability allowance was also urged by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), which, in a statement in 2020, said that the current allowance was not sufficient in covering basic needs.