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November 13, 2006
Fit for exam, but unfit for babudom
Fit for exam, but unfit for babudom
Rema Nagarajan
[ 5 Nov, 2006 0108hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: May 8, 2006. That's the day when 12 candidates with different kinds of disabilities were selected in the all-India civil service examinations 2005 batch, filling the 3% quota for disabled for the first time since the Disability Act was passed in 1995.
But the euphoria has given way to despair as three of the selected candidates, all with varying levels of hearing impairment, have not been allotted any service.
Ironically, while two of them have been denied postings on the grounds that their disability was too acute to allow them to perform any of the civil service jobs, one has been kept out on an exactly opposite reasoning - she is not sufficiently disabled to qualify for the quota.
In the case of Abhijit Chakraborty from Calcutta, (rank 424 on the overall list) medical certificates say his disability level is 50%. However, the medical examination done in Safdarjung Hospital after he was selected concluded that he is 100% deaf.
Abhijit appealed against this conclusion, pointing out that he had gone through the interview/personality test for selection to the civil services without any aid. He couldn't have possibly heard and answered questions if he was 100% deaf.
A second medical examination followed at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital. The RML doctors concluded that his hearing level is 80 decibels, which definitely did not amount to 100% deafness. Still, he hasn't been given a service allotment yet.
Maniram Sharma, who's from a village in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, ranked highest among all the candidates with hearing impairment, but was given no service as he too has been judged to be completely deaf. Maniram had been selected for the civil services in 2004 as well, but sent back without being allotted any service.
He wrote the exams again and was selected in the 2005 batch, with no difference to the ultimate outcome. Officials at the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) are wondering why he has not appealed against the decision.
They defied odds to fulfil their ambitions
Rema Nagarajan
[ 4 Nov, 2006 2328hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: Everyone said they could not do it. However, every "physically handicapped candidate" selected for the IAS has proved that the bogey created about the "physical rigours" of being an IAS officer is just that, a mindset that has kept disabled people out of the service.
The physical aspect of civil services training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, including trekking, regular physical training (PT) and horse riding is cited as a tough hurdle for people with disabilities.
The other stumbling block for disabled people is supposed to be the first part of an IAS officer's career, the district posting, regarded to be physically tough.
Ravi Arora, who has very low vision, and Ulaganathan P, who has mild polio in one leg, both selected for IAS in 2005, are currently training at the academy.
Rigzin Samphael, who has a stiff knee joint that restricts mobility, is joint magistrate in Moradabad district and Lokesh Kumar D S, who has mild polio in one leg, is sub-collector of Pandheru division in Visakhapatnam.
They were all selected for IAS in the 2002 batch and are now doing their district posting. All these candidates laugh off notions about just how physically tough the training or the service itself is.
"Every year at least 20-30 or more regular candidates are exempted from trekking or even PT for various reasons, including temporary disability like a fracture or illness. It is not disabled candidates alone who seek exemption. Instead of trekking, they can choose to do a study programme.
Horse riding too is not compulsory," says Arora.
Ulaganathan agrees that too much is made of the physical aspect of IAS training. "Everyone right from the academy director to all my colleagues are very co-operative and I have never had any problems. Yes, the academy is in a hilly area and even the able-bodied sometimes find it difficult.
But it is not an insurmountable problem," he says.
Samphael's superior, Moradabad DM Pandhari Yadav also pooh poohs notions about how physically demanding the district posting is.
"Physically, not much is required of an IAS officer. As part of his field duties he might have to walk 100-200 metres. But it is not a race and he can set his own pace," says Yadav'Why subject us to humiliation?
Rema Nagarajan
[ 4 Nov, 2006 2327hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
NEW DELHI: The UPSC has not allotted any service to three candidates with disabilities despite successfully clearing the exam.
Salma Fahim from Bangalore, (rank 386), a hearing impaired candidate, was not given any service, because the Safdarjung doctors said she is only 38% disabled. You can avail of the disability quota only if your percentage of disability is 40% or more.
She has appealed against this. A second medical examination said her hearing level was 55 decibels, which puts it above 40% and hence makes her eligible for the quota.
Her own medical certificate says her hearing level is 75 decibels. So far she has not been allotted any service.
"Why are disabled candidates being subjected to the humiliation of repeated tests to prove their disability? How can they be harassed and called for repeated tests because doctors make mistakes in conducting the medical examination? Why are their medical certificates, issued by proper
> medical authorities, being questioned repeatedly? This is nothing but plain discrimination against the disabled who have fought all odds to clear the civil services which is tough even for the so-called able-bodied," says Javed Abidi, convenor of Disability Rights Group.
Deputy Director General (Disability Division) in the Ministry of Social
Justice and Empowerment Ministry, Ashish Kumar describes the problems the candidates are facing as "unfortunate" and feels they ought to appeal before the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) so that he can intervene on their behalf and ensure that justice is done.
Brahm Dutt, Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, the recruiting authority for civil services, is concerned over how much harassment the disabled candidates have to go through.
"We have been writing persistently to the ministries to identify as many posts as possible for the disabled candidates. I don't want to reject a single candidate and no one has been rejected. We are working on accommodating all of them. Every selected candidate wi
Aqeel
Posted by jicafriends at November 13, 2006 01:21 PM
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