Higher educational institutions, both government ones and those who take government aid, should ensure a level-playing field for disabled persons or face action for discrimination, the Supreme Court warned.
Reminding the government that the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act provides for not less than 5% reservation in seats during admissions and this law has not so far been complied with, a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan cautioned that appropriate legal action would be initiated against defaulting educational institutions.
The apex court, in a 26-page judgment, directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to constitute a committee to consider the feasibility of having guidelines for accessibility of students with disabilities in universities and colleges.
“The expert committee may also consider the feasibility of constituting an in-house body in each educational institution (of teachers, staff, students and parents) for taking care of day-to-day needs of differently abled persons as well as for implementation of the schemes that would be devised by the expert committee,” the Bench said, adding that the exercise be completed by June 30 next year.
It said that an action taken report in this regard be placed before it in July 2018.
Delivering a judgment on an 11-year-old PIL plea filed by the Disabled Rights Group, the Bench raised three key issues - the non-implementation of reservation of seats in educational institutions as provided in the Disabilities Act, the lack of proper access for orthopaedically disabled persons in educational institutions and the absence of provisions and facilities for teaching disabled persons.
The Bench noted that a provision under the 2016 Act provided that persons with benchmark disabilities shall be given an upper age relaxation of five years for admission in institutions of higher education.
The court said the educational institutions concerned should submit a list of the number of disabled persons admitted in each course every year to the Chief Commissioner or State Commissioner under the Disabilities Act.
“To ensure the level-playing field, it is not only essential to give necessary education to the persons suffering from the disability, it is also imperative to see that such education is imparted to them in a fruitful manner,” it said.
The Bench said that such requirement was to ensure that a student with disability, after proper education, would be able to lead an independent, economically self-sufficient and fully participatory life.
Regarding law colleges, the court said intimation about the number of admissions given to disabled students should be sent to the Bar Council of India (BCI).
