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Tuesday 6 August 2013

HC tells IIT-B to consider case of 'disabled', let her attend classes : MUMBAI

The Bombay HC on Monday offered relief to a student with learning disability (LD), who had sought admission to masters in design at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay. The HC, in an interim order, directed IIT-Bombay to consider her case for admission

and allow her to attend classes immediately from Tuesday as they had already begun on July 18.

The bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice M S Sanklecha admitted a petition filed by a Chembur girl, who said the IIT was violating her rights but not considering her case for admission to Masters in Design on "incorrect" grounds that LD does not fall under "person with disability" category for which there are concessions.

The student, who completed her bachelors from a Pune college, the Common Entrance Exam for Design (CEED) 2013 for admission to the PG degree in design at IIT. She scored 50% in Part A of the two-part entrance exam. She had initially applied under the open category. But after the results were declared, she approached the IIT for a change of category. In the persons with disability category, the minimum cut-off score was 32% and that made her eligible, said her counsel R K Samal in the HC on Monday. He said, the IIT was not considering her case despite a 2010 Delhi HC order that recorded an opinion of Directorate General of Health Services that dyslexia can be considered as a disability under the mental retardation category if the person has 40% or more disability. He said such a person was then eligible to claim benefits of reservation under the provisions of The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

The IIT did not even appear for a hearing in Delhi held in June by the ministry of social justice, which she had approached earlier, he said. The girl had been pursuing IIT since March for admission. The HC took this into consideration while directing her to deposit semester fees and attend classes.

The IIT said she has learning disability of "dyscalculia" only and it "cannot be considered a disability" that would fall within the HRD ministry "guidelines for reservation for persons with physical disability". In its affidavit, it said it denied "malafides or malice" as alleged and added that "every case is dealt with utmost sympathy for any student in a friendly manner and in their best interest". It said that the "student had not informed the authorities about a change of category even on the day of the examination". The IIT said it had limited seats and that qualifying in both parts of the entrance test was essential.

The HC told the IIT to declare Sharma's result in Part-B of CEED by treating her Part-A scores as being under the persons with disability category. It, however, clarified that the IIT could "carry on the selection process for taking the final decisionwhether the petitioner should be granted admission in Master Design in the category of persons with disability". The matter will be heard on September 2.


Source : TOI , 6th August 2013

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