The Hindu : On crutches they climbed up, only to be let down

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 17, 2003

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On crutches they climbed up, only to be let down

By Anjali Malhotra

NEW DELHI JULY 16. Climbing six floors of the V.P. Chest Institute building of Delhi University with crutches was not easy for Desh Raj who suffers from 50 per cent disability of his lower limbs. He endured the painful climb as it marked the fulfilment of his dream. But on reaching the Faculty of Medical Sciences, he realised the effort had been in vain.

One of the eight candidates selected under the Physically Handicapped (PH) quota for the counselling session for MBBS and BDS courses offered by Delhi University, Desh Raj -- like other candidates -- reached V.P Chest Institute, on July 14 as directed by the University's prospectus.

However, they were in for a rude shock as after a two-hour wait they were informed that the date for counselling had been postponed. Reason: The Faculty of Medical Sciences is not sure about the eligibility criteria for the PH category and claim they are currently waiting for new guidelines from the Medical Council of India. "First they made us climb six floors which was difficult for most of us and then they made us wait for two hours. There were no seats either. On top of that, they postponed the counselling session and haven't fixed a date. I am very upset with this,'' said Supriya Choudhary, a candidate, who is afflicted with polio.

The issue, however, is much more than postponing the session without prior intimation. According to the candidates -- most of who are fighting court cases with the Faculty of Medical Department to gain admission -- the University is in no mood to give seats under the PH category. "According to a Supreme Court judgment, they are supposed to give us 3 per cent reservation which means there should be eight seats. However, their prospectus only allocated four seats,'' said Rekha Tyagi, another candidate, who has filed a writ petition in the High Court on this issue.

Though the case is pending in court, an interim order passed recently keeping in mind the counselling sessions to be held on July 14, directed Delhi University to keep four seats from the General category in order to meet the 3 per cent criteria. Instead the University decided not to hold the counselling session for PH category till the final verdict was passed. ``The Court has not given us the eligibility criterion. How do we know who is eligible for admission? The Medical Council of India is going to give us new guidelines soon,'' said Deputy Registrar, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Brij Mohan.

The candidates see this as just another tactic to delay the admission process. "The guidelines have been clearly listed out in the previous orders. What else do they want now? They want to change it more so that they don't have to give any seats under the PH category,'' alleged Rekha's father, Rajpal Singh Tyagi.

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