Delhi HC notice on PIL claiming UPSC doesn't provide adequate reservation to disabled persons

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the preliminary examination notice of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) claiming it doesn't provide adequate reservation to persons with disabilities category applicants.

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the preliminary examination notice of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) claiming it doesn't provide adequate reservation to persons with disabilities category applicants. A division bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan sought response from all the respondents and slated the matter for further hearing on August 31.

The petition, filed by a registered society for disabled - Sambhavana, said that the notice for direct recruitment to 24 civil services neglects the mandatory minimum reservation for the disabled under section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. "UPSC notice is for direct recruitment of the disabled to only 24 expected approximate vacancies reserved for them under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act2016, (RPWD Act hereinafter) out of the 796 approximate expected vacancies mentioned therein," the plea said.

It said that the unequal distribution of vacancies among the five classes of disabilities is in complete violation of Section 34(1) of the RPWD Act. "Section 34(1) mandates a minimum four percent reservation for the benchmark disabled of the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength in each group of posts meant to be filled with such disabled and an equal distribution of one (20 percent each among the disabled classes of the blind, deaf, locomotor plus the combined class of autism, etc with those having multiple disabilities," the plea said.

"The violation of the aforesaid Section has resulted in arbitrary and hostile discrimination against the disabled, despite the judgments of the Supreme Court and this Hon'ble Court on these issues and the administrative procedures laid down for implementing the judgments to ensure specific officer accountability, under Office Memorandums/executive orders, issued by the nodal authority, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoP&T) of the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions," it added. The plea said that the examination notice annihilates or wipes out the section 34 of the RPWD Act, 2016 for the disabled candidates.

It said that the disabled candidates do not have the physical or the economic wherewithal to withstand this annihilation of their statutory and constitutional rights to an equal opportunity to a government job, despite two Union Ministries and a constitutional authority tasked to take care that this does not happen. (ANI)

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