News

Volume 3 Issue 16 - August 15, 2005

A.P. Court rejects bar set by M.C.I. for admission to M.B.B.S. under disability quota

D.N.I.S. News Network– In a landmark judgement, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed N.T.R. University of Health Sciences, Vijayawada, to accept applicants with 40% disability for allotments of seats for M.B.B.S. courses in accordance with provisions of Persons with Disability Act, 1995.

The judgement ends confusion perpetrated by the Medical Council of India (M.C.I) that had arbitrarily fixed requirement of 50 to 70 per cent disability for allotting seats to candidates.

The Order dated 20 July, was issued while hearing a petition by K. Mounesh who has applied for counselling to get admission in to M.B.B.S. course under N.T.R. University of Health Sciences under physically handicapped category. But to his shock, he discovered from the prospectus that persons with locomotor disability between 50 to 70 per cent are only eligible under physically handicapped category.

Mounesh had also filed a petition with the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disability for justice and against this discriminatory clause. Deputy-Commissioner T.D. Dhariyal then issued a letter advising N.T.R. University and other universities not to deprive persons with disabilities between 40 to 49 per cent from consideration for admission against 3 per cent quota of seats, as the same is against the statutory provisions of Persons with Disability Act, 1995.