Chandigarh: PGI to implement Act on disabilities after two years

CHANDIGARH: Two years after it came into effect, PGI will implement the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and mention the same in its prospectus of the session starting July 2019.

The Act identifies a total of 21 disabilities, of which PGI was recognising only one - lower limb disability - till now.

PGI's move came after Dr Satendra Singh, a disability rights activist based out of New Delhi, had last year written to Union health minister J P Nadda that the institutes of national importance, including AIIMS, PGIMER and JIPMER Puducherry, were violating the Act.

PGI was then directed by the ministry to look into the matter. Recently, Dr Satendra was emailed by the office of PGI registrar which stated: "The case regarding the implementation of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 was placed before the competent authority and it has been decided by the latter that the institute has implemented the Act in the prospectus of July 2019 session."

Moreover, a public grievance redressal committee has been constituted and research dean Prof Arvind Rajwanshi has been appointed as its chairman.

Dr Satendra highlighted that AIIMS did not clarify in its prospectus the allocation of seats for persons with benchmark disability in the 5% category set aside for them. Also, PGI follows the old Act where only lower limb is considered as a disability.

"The prospectus documents that people with lower limb disabilities between 40-70% can only apply for MD/MS. It grants 5% of the seats horizontally only in the orthopaedic physically disabled category," said Dr Singh.

A doctor was denied job in PGI as he had low vision and the PGI's prospectus did not mention it as a disability. "There are 21 disabilities and none of these institutes of national importance include them. The Act has been in place since two years now and we are still fighting for its implementation," said Dr Satendra.