The Academic Council of Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) on Wednesday cleared a legal hurdle that prevented physically challenged candidates, particularly those who cannot hear or speak, from being nominated or elected to any of its authorities.
The Council meeting passed a motion that sought to delete the phrase ‘a deaf mute’ from the university statute. This followed a letter sent by the deputy secretary, higher education department to Registrar (in-charge) A. Muthumanickam on September 10.
The letter instructed the university to remove the contentious phrase from its statute and report its compliance to the State government. The deletion was prompted by the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
The university Syndicate approved the amendment of the statute, which will come into effect after clearance from the Senate and the Chancellor.
The amendment relates to Section 6(1)(a) which states that ‘no person shall be qualified for election as a member of any of the authorities of the university if, on the date of nomination or election, he is of unsound mind, a deaf mute or suffering from leprosy.’
Welcoming the amendment, a member of the Academic Council said his son, who was unable to hear or speak properly, had completed his engineering degree in computer science with hearing aids.
Another member said the phrase ‘suffering from leprosy’ should also be deleted from the statute as leprosy was not a contagious disease.
