The Delhi Government has allocated 27 government hospitals in 11 districts to issue disability certificates to the applicants under the new central Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) Act 2016, for 21 conditions.
Differently-abled candidates applying to the University of Delhi (DU) are in a dilemma as the Government of Delhi has notified the Varsity to accept disability certificates only from these 27 government hospitals.
This move could prove to be disadvantageous for many students as the certificates issued by other hospitals will not be considered for admissions under the PwD quota. Applicants are also discouraged because the procedure for availing these certificates may take a lot of time, and the students do not have that kind of liberty due to the fast closure of admissions.
According to the abovementioned Act, not less than 5% of seats in all institutions are to be reserved for PwD candidates. It also states that a relaxation of 5% is to be made for the candidates with respect to course-specific eligibility in the qualifying examination and the entrance test.
Akhilesh K Verma, who is in charge of DU’s Grievance Cell, stated that students have brought about this issue during open-day sessions, but his team has not received any formal written complaint against the same. “Without a written complaint, it won’t be possible to take any kind of action,” Verma said. “The department is following admission protocols.”
Verma further added that the students could submit provisional certificates that they have at hand, and proceed to make the authorized certificate from the respective hospitals.
Bipin Kumar Tiwari, Officer on Special Duty at the Equal Opportunity Cell, too, stated that many students did make inquiries about the decision of the Government. He said that it was not a new announcement and students had prior information about this change. “It should not be a problem for these students to get these certificates. Uniform certificates would make the procedures of admission smoother for the staff,” he added.
The procedure for acquiring the certificate is very simple. All that a candidate has to do is submit the needed disability documents to the selected hospitals and get them approved.
There is hope as the students can use the certificates they have at hand for now, but is important for them to get the certificates as soon as they can, to ensure smoother admissions.
Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times
Stephen Mathew
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