News

Volume 2 Issue 10 - May 15, 2004

IAS winner awaits his job

DNIS News Network -- Following a high Court judgment in his favour, visually impaired Ravi Arora is still waiting to gain entry into the Civil Service.

On April 15, following a high Court judgment in his favour, visually impaired Ravi Arora believed he had won his long battle to gain entry into the Civil Service.

Arora, a myopic with 6/60 vision, first passed the Civil Service entry exam back in 2001 but was denied a job on the grounds of his "sub-standard vision". He then asked for consideration under the disabled category but was again rebuffed, as there were no posts identified for visually impaired candidates.

It took another two years and a High Court decision for Arora to prove that he does indeed qualify for a civil service position.

The High Court gave the Centre and Union Public Service Commission a month to appoint Arora, but the May 15 deadline has been and gone and yet again his hopes have been dashed. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has lodged an appeal against the court's decision but its case is believed to be flawed. In response Arora has filed a writ for contempt of court against the service for wilfully failing to obey a court order. The resolution of the issue, it seems is still no nearer.

Once again Arora's future hopes hang in the balance and he is understandably despondent: "Right now I just feel saddened by the prolonged fight. I can see no logic, no rationale for the authority's hard line." And to add insult to injury, he points out, it is using his tax money to file a case against him.

Another court case concerning the IAS and employment quotas was concluded on May 5, when the central government admitted it had been in error by not identifying posts for the disabled in the Civil services. It informed the Delhi High Court of its intention to identify such posts in all 27 services, including the elite IAS.