MKU adds up odds against differently abled student

The treatment meted out to a differently abled student pursuing M.A. (Tourism Management) at Madurai Kamaraj University in the distance education mode is disturbing.

S. Loganathan (32), son of a lorry driver, now residing in Coimbatore, met with a road accident nine years ago while he was working for The Oberoi Hotels in Jaipur. Post-surgery, the doctors certified him as a person with permanent disability as both his hands and legs had paralysed and the spinal cord too was injured up to the cervical level. In simple terms, Loganathan has to be assisted even for drinking a glass of water or to attend to nature’s call.

Thanking the Oberoi authorities, who have been supporting him till date even after he left the job nine years ago, a soft-spoken Loganathan said that he would like to take up tele-marketing with the Oberoi Contact Centre after completing the course.

Despite his handicap, the brave young lad had a fire in him to pursue higher education. After browsing the MKU website from his home, he decided to take up MA (Tourism Management) two years ago. Since there was a study centre in his town, he approached the staff and gathered all the details.

Though he had submitted documents obtained from the government panel of doctors supported with photocopies of national identity card and passbook with disability certificate issued by State Commissioner for Disabled, trouble arose when the first-year examination time table was announced in 2013. Not concerned about the physical condition of the student, the staff at the DDE section were determined that he could not write the examination with the help of a scribe as he was not visually challenged. However, when he explained the situation to higher officials, he was allowed to have a scribe but the examination was over by then.

Down, but not out, Loganathan, prepared for the second-year exams and wrote them in December 2014. Like any other student, when Loganathan was eagerly waiting to know the results, he had yet another shock. This time, the staff at the DDE (PG Section) told him that his answer papers were missing.

In May this year, he wrote his first-year papers and is waiting for the results, keeping his fingers crossed.

When The Hindu contacted the MKU staff, they claimed that they had no clear instructions on such disability from the Higher Education Department officials. “Though the doctors had certified that he has 100 per cent disability and he is mentally and intellectually capable of pursuing higher education, there is no word on use of scribe,” they argued.

“Since, Loganathan was not visually challenged, we told him that a scribe could not be used. But, after seeing his condition, we permitted a scribe,” they said. When asked about the reasons for answer papers going missing, the authorities said that they were not received from the Coimbatore study centre. “So we have informed the student orally that he has to write the exams again.”