Thalassaemic finally gets job he was denied

Dear Friends,

I am surprised as to why each time the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has to intervene and take a credit to give the persons living with disabling conditions their basic dues such a government job at their own merit?

Why can't we have ministries and babus using their brains to implement laws and rules themselves and stop discriminating on the grounds of disabilities. This is ridiculous that for each right, a person with disability in India has to face discrimination and then he is forced to knock the doors of judiciary or some political leader. Are they doing a favour to persons with disabilities by agreeing to give them a job which the person has otherwise earned through his own merit?

So much so, that many government departments have started illegally adjusting those persons with disabilities in the disability quota seats who have passed the recruitment exams on their own in general merit. This amounts to reducing the persons with disabilities to maximum 3% rather than minimum 3% reserved seats as mandated by the Act of 1995! Is the Government listening?

Thalassaemic finally gets job he was denied

By Vikas Kahol in Chandigarh

AFTER over a year of blood, sweat and tears, Sukhsohit Singh’s efforts have borne fruit. The first thalassaemic in the country to clear the civil services examination but declared unfit because of the rare genetic disorder, he is finally set to be inducted into the Indian Defence Accounts Services ( Group A).

An observation by the medical board at Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi had jeopardised Sukhsohit’s career. The board had declared him “ unfit for all services” as he suffers from thalassaemia major. M AIL T ODAY highlighted the issue in its June 13 issue under the headline ‘ Thalassaemic man denied a job that was rightfully his’. On Friday, a beaming Sukhsohit stated that he received an official communication from the department of personnel and training ( DoPT) informing him about the assignment. The formal offer of appointment would be sent by the defence ministry, the cadre- controlling authority. The DoPT has also requested the ministry to allow Sukhsohit to join by September 13 and exempt him from attending the foundation course.

“I am happy that my dream is fulfilled. I am also thankful to the government authorities, including the Prime Minister who intervened to help me bag the civil servant’s job. The media’s effort, too, was commendable as it made out a strong case for me,” he said.

Sukhsohit had listed three preferences: The Indian Defence Accounts Services, Indian Railway Accounts Services and Indian Railway Personnel Services. All the three come under Group A civil services. “ I had deliberately opted for non- police services that were commensurate with my rank.

Sukhsohit, who lives in Panchkula near Chandigarh, was diagnosed with thalassaemia major in 1985 when he was only one and a half years old. The doctors advised his parents — his father Wing Commander ( retired) M. S. Bawa and mother Gursharan Kaur — to take good care of their son and assured them that he would be able to lead a “ normal” life. Regular medication and blood transfusions were their prescriptions for his good health.

Sukhsohit braved the disease for about 25 years and did not face any mental or physical disorder. Not only was he regular at school, his attendance was exceptionally high. He topped in the 10+ 2 examination in the Chandigarh region Kendriya Vidyalayas. After completing B Com ( Hons) in Business Economics from Panjab University, he secured the first rank in the income tax examination.

His disease did not deter him from securing the first position in MA in public administration, and he qualified for the UGC’s junior research fellowship ( JRF). Currently, Sukhsohit is pursuing PhD in public administration.

He said clearing the civil services exam had been his sole dream and he opted for non- technical services.

Mail Today

Visually Impaired continue to face discrimination in Civil Services

Dear Friends,

Despite the PM's intervention in ensuring that the Civil Services opened their doors to the persons with disability especially those with visual disability, the silent discrimination continues. The case of Rajesh is a live testimony to this discrimination. And this is despite Supreme Court's order in the favour of the candidate directing DoPT to appoint him in Civil Services!

It is the same DOPT which continued to take examination in Braille  and giving the VH scribes to write UPSC examination without making an effort to identify any posts for them when they were pulled up by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India.

We all know, how difficult it is to clear the interview where, many times such insensitive people sit across you who know nothing about disability etiquettes throwing queries questioning your abilities on the basis of perceived disability! And then the apathy and bias attitude of  the DoPT.

This needs to change forthwith if India is to ensure true equality to its citizen with disabilities. Stern action should be taken against the erring officers to set examples that the policies and Act are not defied right under the nose of the Union Government.

Read here the revelation brought out by Bhuvan Bagga for Mail Today.

Click here to view the news from Mail Today in image form 

Babus blind to his merit (Mail Today) By Bhuvan Bagga in New Delhi Visually impaired man not given posting even 3 yrs after clearing civil services  RAJESH Kumar Singh had a dream that soured — one, because he is visually impaired and two, because he is not well connected. This 25- year- old had cracked the prestigious civil services examination three years ago while he was still doing his masters in modern Indian history from Jawaharlal Nehru University. But what happened next broke his spirit. Despite bagging the third rank in the disabled category, the department of personnel and training ( DoPT) refused to give Singh a posting. “I don’t know when I will get my chance. Now it seems the examination was easier to handle, but not this inherent bias in the system against people with special needs like us,” says Rajesh. Disheartened, he approached the Supreme Court and after a prolonged legal battle, the court decided in his favour. But another shocker for him was on the way. A candidate, who was ranked below him in the same category, received a posting while he was still waiting for a response after the court order. Allegedly, it so happened that the favoured candidate was related to a DoPT official. He knocked at the Supreme Court’s doors for the second time on October 21 this year. The court once again issued notices to the government asking why he wasn’t given a posting despite its order and how a person with a lower rank got in. “The system is entirely pitted against us. No one thinks we deserve, merit or should be a part of the bureaucracy. Even in my interview, a panelist asked me why I deserved to be in the service when I couldn’t even read or write as he did,” he said. At that time Rajesh had politely shot back asking the interviewer “ if he could read or write like him, would he consider himself ineligible?” Incidentally, Rajesh is also an international cricketer who represented India in three world cups for the visually impaired. “ Two of these were in India and one in Pakistan. I am not just a meritorious candidate, but also a sportsperson,” he says. However, he has received support from activists and political leaders who have written to the Prime Minister. MAIL TODAY has the copies of these letters in its possession. The letters name the senior DOPT officer and mention that Rajesh was ignored and a person with a lower rank was favoured. Dr Naresh Kumar, a sociologist and general secretary of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee said, “ I have written a letter to the PM and asked for the removal of such officers who think themselves to be above the Supreme Court. I want to know how Ravi Prakash Singh, with a rank of 6, got into the IAS service while Rajesh is outside.” Rajesh is from Patna and had done his bachelors in history from Ramjas College. His father is a civil judge in Bihar. Two of his brothers are engineers and his sister is a doctor. “There are times when even our families and closest persons can’t understand us. I have my fingers crossed and am hopeful that the law of the land gives me what I have earned. I don’t need sympathies, just give me what I worked so hard for,” Rajesh said.

Throwing out workers with visual disabilities enmasse may be a bad precedent!

Dear Friends,

Cases like this are surely a discouragement to the voluntary initiative of private sector and are in bad taste-  both for employers and employees with disabilities.

Its difficult to prove how it all started and whether it was due to conflict between Management and Union or really due to no work being done by workers. One thing is clear, if the workers have been working for five years, they can't be shunted out in this fashion.

The management on the other hand should seek the active involvement of disabled employees in providing reasonable accommdoation. I also see a larger role here of NGOs that work in employment areas to diffuse the crises to set good precedent!

regards

Subhash C Vashishth

Click here to read from source:   Suspended visually-challenged workers say firm’s move against law

-Nisha Nambiar

Pune: Approach disability commissioner; company says they were doing no work but will get pay till probe ends.

Twenty visually-challenged workers, who were suspended by a private firm in Chinchwad, have approached the Disability Commissioner complaining about violation of their rights under the Equal Opportunity Act 1995, which says disabled persons cannot be suspended.

Uma Precision Pvt Ltd had issued the suspension orders on Monday. The workers submitted their representation to the Commissioner on Tuesday. The matter will be heard on Friday.

Advocate Vaishali Sarin said that the employees have been working with Uma Precision since the last five to six years and the company cannot suspend them. “It is against the law,” she said. Sarin along with these workers will hold a sit-in protest at the company’s gates on Wednesday morning.

The firm has been into auto ancillary products for 30 years and has nearly 500 employees. It had employed the workers in its punching unit. They had been working since 2005. The workers, who are part of the MNS’s Maharashtra Navnirman Kamgar Union, had clashed with the firm’s officials earlier too.

The company officials said the workers were suspended and a probe was being conducted. Director of the firm’s Human Resources department Dilip Tilekar said the employees were not doing any work and were suspended for gross misconduct. “A committee would conduct the probe. There would be a hearing in the coming week. They would be given a chance for their say,” he said. However, these employees will continue to get their pay till the probe is completed and hearing of the case is conducted, he added.

Sarin, however, maintained that workers had been doing good work and many of them are the sole breadwinners of their families. “I am the sole breadwinner of the family. It would be very difficult to find another job soon,” said one of the suspended workers. Trainer Sunil Chordia alleged that the workers were not given adequate work and the company cannot complain about them sitting idle.