DCW Issues Notice To Centre On Blind Woman’s Plea

The Delhi Commission for Women has sent a notice to Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), central government on Tuesday. The notice is regarding a complaint that they have received from a blind woman, who passed the civil services examination in 2015.

The woman, in her complaint, stated that she was allotted a job by IRAS in the beginning but then it was taken back owing to her disability. On enquiring about it, they again allotted her a job in Postal and Telecommunication, Accounts and Finance Service.

“The woman has stated that while she was allocated the IRAS service as per her rank in CSE-2015, her appointment was cancelled by the Ministry of Railways. She has further stated that after several weeks of follow-ups, she has now been allocated IP and TAF service, which is in contravention of her rank, merit and preference of service,” said the notice issued by DCW chief Swati Malliwal to DoPT secretary BP Sharma.

It added, “It is evident that the lady has already undergone a great deal of struggle and after painstaking efforts has cleared the civil services examination. She has faced enormous challenges in life. Understandably, crucial time of training and foundation course has been wasted in her case due to systemic delays. Therefore, it is necessary that immediate action is taken to rectify the same.”

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The complainant, currently studying her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, was born with weak eyesight and lost it completely at the age of six. She wrote, “Surgeries were done but my renowned doctor could not reattach my retina.”

Explaining her situation, she said, “I was allotted Indian Railway Accounts Service. My departmental training was to start in the month of December 2016. However, I came to know that I am denied the service on the basis of my 100% blindness. Neither DoPT nor Rail Bhavan considered it to be important enough to inform me about rejecting me for the service. When I started following it up with DoPT officials, I did not get positive response as to when my matter will be resolved.”

Picture credit- Hindustan Times