News

Volume 3 Issue 10 - May 15, 2005

Failure to implement reservation; Delhi High Court stays appointment of Principals

DNIS News Network - The Delhi High Court has stayed the appointment of principals in 90 schools run by the State government for its failure to implement 3% reservation for persons with disability.

Justice Vikramajit Sen passed the order while hearing a petition by All India Federation of the Blind, which alleged that disabled persons were not being given reservation stipulated by the Disabilities Act. The court asked the Delhi government to respond to the petition by 11 May.

Justice Sen said: “Even though the Disability Act, 1995, has been on the statute book for almost a decade, it is evident from the number of cases which are brought before the court that only cosmetic adherence to the Act takes place. There can be no excuse for the government of N.C.T. [National Capital Territory] of Delhi, or the U.P.S.C. [Union Public Service Commission], or the Department of Personnel and Training, not to have adhered strictly to at least the minimum mandate of the said Act, that is, reservation of 3% for the three categories of disabled persons.”

Taking serious note of the lapse by Delhi Government in failing to include adequate reservation for persons with disabilities while advertising for the posts of Principals in 90 State-run schools, Justice Sen stated, “It is, indeed, a matter of regret as well as alarm that as recently as July 2004 the recruitment advertisement should have mentioned reservation of only one post out of a vacancy of 90 posts.”