PwD service matters

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    • #1231

      This is not a personal queries rather many pwds employees involved in PB and ministries. Who face daily harassment when it comes to service matters, medical facilities and administrative matters.

      As per the SC orders following the contempt petition recently Central govt was forced to undertake special recruitment drives for PwDs to fill the vacant seats right from 1995 after the acts of 1995 got applicable.

      One of my collegue got through a all india competition claiming the single seat under OH subcategory of PwDs. He was asked to apoear before a medical board for the verification of his disability and he appeared. Board gave it’s judgement in sealed cover and he was declared 40% disabled and with the remark that,

      The candidate is recommended for the post found suitable for locomotor disability”

      Now after 1 year of his service there is a deliberate attempts from other jealous officers of his cader to prove that he is not a pwd. He actually is senior to all of them on paper and is very young

      My only que is, when central govt medical board approved hus disability and recommended him for employment, can re medical examination be ordered by the appointing authority???

      It would be nice if you respond and hope you are well in health and doing fine 🙂

    • #1232

      As far as I understand, a certificate issued by the appropriate authority  or duly constituted medical board about the disability should generally be considered to be final. Under the newly enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 [http://www.disabilityaffairs.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RPWD%20ACT%202016.pdf], as well as under the existing guidelines, namely,  the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules, 1996, there does not appear to be any provision for such review on behalf of the employer, though there are provisions to enable the person with disability to file for review / appeal against the decision of the medical board if he is not satisfied about such decision. Even the rules relating to medical examination of candidates for Civil Services Examination (including for the persons belonging to the PH category) [http://persmin.gov.in/ais1/Docs/Appendix-III.pdf] do not contain provisions for any such review.

      However, I may not have access to all relevant departmental guidelines or rules (which are not available on the web). And, perhaps, it may need some more research on this issue.

      But, perhaps in those cases where there is an allegation that the person concerned has produced or obtained a fake disability certificate for claiming reservation benefit for PH candidates, the department may be in a position to refer them to the appropriate medical board. To give a parallel, several years back, I had seen the cases of two persons who had been appointed to the Central Civil Services (if I remember correctly, one of them was appointed in IAS and the other in IPS) on the basis of fake caste certificates thereby wrongly claiming reservation benefits. Subsequently, they were removed from service and criminal cases were registered against them for the fake caste certificate. Perhaps, in a similar manner, if there are allegations that a person has obtained or produced a fake disability certificate, the department may perhaps get it verified and take necessary action if such certificate is found to be fake. This is because it is a misconduct to produce fake certificates (including cases where the medical board was also involved or was bribed) and an appointment made on the basis of fake certificate may be revoked. This is also in order to ensure that the deserving PH candidates are not deprived of their opportunities by the people with fake disability certificates. In fact, a simple search of Google shows several news reports with fake disability certificate scams. For example, see the following news report:

      But, in genuine marginal cases (i.e., where fake disability certificate is not suspected), such review of PH candidates should not be possible. More so, when the person has already spent about a year in service. Wherever possible, benefit of doubt should be given to the PH candidate. In case, any action is taken in any such genuine case, the person concerned can ask the Govt as to under what provisions of law such review medical examination is being conducted (or, it may perhaps be explained in the order for such review, itself). And, if need be, such review order can be challenged before the appropriate court or tribunal (such as CAT) having jurisdiction.     


      Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.

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