Shimla, Dec 6
The Himachal Pradesh High Court directed the PGI medical board to access and issue a disability certificate to Nikita. The divyang meritorious student wants to become an MBBS doctor; however her application was rejected, whereafter she moved court.
A division bench of Justice Sabina and Justice Sushil Kukreja, on December 5, while hearing the case, directed the director of PGI Chandigarh to assess her disability and submit its report by December 9.
The order was passed on a petition filed by this student who cracked the NEET exam. Prof. Ajay Srivastava, expert member of Himachal Pradesh State Advisory Board for Disability and President of Umang Foundation, informed that Government Medical College, Chandigarh, which has been authorised by the Medical Council of India to issue disability certificates, had certified 78 pc disability in the aspirant.
Whereafter, Mandi’s Atal Medical University allotted Tanda Medical College to wheelchair-using Nikita Chowdhary, a resident of Baba Baroh, Kangra. But, the Tanda medical college administration, citing rules, got medical conducted again and arbitrarily increased the disability percentage from 78% to 90%.
As per Medical Council of India (MCI) rules, students with up to 80% disability are eligible for admission to MBBS.
However, wheelchair user Nikita did not give up and filed a petition in the High Court. After hearing the arguments of senior advocate Sanjeev Bhushan, appearing on behalf of students, the High Court observed that two contradictory disability certificates were before it. Therefore the court directed PGI to conduct the test.
College Professor Ajay Srivastava said that in many cases, the Supreme Court permitted wheelchair users and blind students to get admission to MBBS. He said that in light of such judgements, the decision taken by the Tanda Medical College was surprising. There is an explicit provision in the Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 that all public places should be barrier-free so that persons with disabilities do not face any difficulty. This includes medical colleges as well. In such a case, the Tanda Medical College Administration’s refusal to admit seems unjust, added Srivastava.
Now the next date of hearing in the High Court is December 12.
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