‘Fake’ hearing impairment certificates: Karnataka Health Department to re-examine medical documents submitted by government job applicants

Cracking down on ‘fake’ hearing impairment medical certificates being allegedly submitted by some candidates to get government jobs and claim other benefits under various government schemes, the State Health Department has directed all government hospitals to re-examine certificates furnished by those appointed in various departments and by those who have applied for jobs. 

Cracking down on ‘fake’ hearing impairment medical certificates being allegedly submitted by some candidates to get government jobs and claim benefits under various government schemes, the State Health Department has directed all government hospitals to re-examine certificates furnished by those appointed in various departments and by those who have applied for jobs. 

This comes in the wake of a recent meeting where it was brought to the notice of the Health Department that several candidates had allegedly submitted ‘fake’ hearing impairment certificates to claim benefits.

Sources said some complaints were cross-checked by getting the candidates identified by the government departments re-examined at the All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing in Mysuru. “Following the re-examination, it was found that the candidates did not have any hearing impairment. Most of the ‘fake’ certificates were issued by government doctors from Koppal, Raichur, Chitradurga, and Tumakuru,” sources said.

“It was also found that many candidates were just getting a pure-tone audiometry (PTA) test, the most commonly used test to measure auditory sensitivity. This is a subjective technique that tests the patient’s ability to hear words, frequencies or tones at differing volumes and is not adequate to assess the hearing impairment. We also need to conduct BERA (Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry) and/or ABER (Auditory Brainstem Evoked Response) tests for a proper assessment of the hearing impairment. These (BERA/ABER) tests are objective methods used to determine how electrical waves are sent from the eighth cranial nerve to the brainstem in response to click noises delivered through the ear,” a senior official said.

Following several such complaints by various government departments, State Health Commissioner Randeep D. recently issued a circular directing heads of all State-run hospitals to re-examine the certificates issued in their institutions and give an objective opinion in accordance with guidelines.

“The re-examination should be done by the medical boards of all district hospitals, government medical college hospitals and taluk hospitals after which an ENT specialist should confirm the assessment,” the Commissioner said.

“The board should determine the percentage of hearing loss recorded in the BERA/ABER test report given by audiologists after confirmation by ENT specialists. Only eligible beneficiaries should be issued the hearing impairment medical certificates by the medical board through the Unique Disability ID portal —  https://www.swavlambancard.gov.in/registration,” he said.