Mumbai: In view of a petition by a medical aspirant seeking to be included in the admission process of medical courses under the Person With Disability Quota (PWD), the Bombay High Court has directed a board of medical experts of Goa Medical College to clinically examine the candidate in order to determine whether she is eligible to study medicine under PWD quota.
The petitioner who is an 18-year-old medical aspirant approached the High Court stating that she has a congenital defect of mixed hearing impairment and hence she has the right to seek Medical admission under the Person With Disability quota. Asking the authorities not to cancel the admission of the petitioner, the court further instructed Goa Medical College to arrange a physical examination of the candidate and to offer their expert opinion regarding the matter.
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As per a recent media report by Times Of India, the petitioner submitted that her disability certificate was provided by the medical authority in Solapur which confirms that she is a certified PWD candidate with a 48% disability. She was referred to Grant Medical College ( JJ Hospital group) where she underwent a test but the test determined that she had only 19% hearing disability. Hence she was disqualified from the admission process and can not avail seat under the PWD quota.
After that, the counsel for the petitioner on 9th December appearing before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta submitted that a second disability assessment should be permitted as otherwise her admission can be cancelled. Considering the nature of the impairment of the petitioner, the bench observed that the closest institution is Bambolin, Goa.
The court ordered, "In the meantime, the respondents are directed not to cancel the admission of the petitioner and the respondents shall not fill up, the vacancy by admitting any other candidate." The court has been adjourned till the next hearing which is listed on 14th December.
Previously, the authorities mentioned that the candidates need to approach Disability Centres designated by MCC of DGHS across India to obtain a Disability Certificate after getting their disability assessed at the centre in order to secure the benefit of 5% PwD reservation in medical courses. Candidates can arrange the issuing of Disability Certificates for 21 Benchmark Disabilities given under the Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2016 as per MCI's (now NMC) guidelines.