News
D.N.I.S. News Network, India: Maniram Sharma, a hearing impaired person, cleared the elite Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S.) examinations three times - 2005, 2006 and 2009. But despite this he was not given an I.A.S. posting as only the partially hearing impaired were eligible while Sharma was fully hearing impaired. Finally, this October he was inducted into the I.A.S.
Sharma, who had a cochlear implant to improve his hearing, cleared the 2009 exams in August scoring the highest in the hearing impairment category. However, question marks were put on his level of disability and he did not get a call till now.
“I still can't believe it has happened. It has not sunk in. After suffering so many disappointments, it's difficult to imagine it has actually come true,'' said Sharma.
It may be mentioned that N.C.P.E.D.P. had been spearheading the demand for allotting I.A.S. postings to disabled candidates who are given departments much lower in the hierarchy despite getting good ranks. From the success stories in the past few years, it is encouraging to see that disabled candidates are getting their due in the Indian civil services. However, still a lot more needs to be done.