Misuse of disability quota comes to light
DNA ,8 : June 2013
The state commissioner for persons with disabilities, KV Rajanna, will shortly be writing to all the department heads, asking them for a list of those employees who are working in the government under the disability quota.
This comes in the back drop of a case in Kolar’s Chintamani taluk where
10 persons have been found to have been utilizing the disability quota
while they have no disability at all!
At a press meet, Rajanna said a person from Chintamani wanted to find out the number of disabled people in the education department in the district, using the Right to Information act.
“After this report came to us, we called the 45 people who had been
named in this RTI and found out that 10 of them were not blind, as had
been mentioned. We also found that seven members who had taken the job
on general quota had been utilising all the facilities of the disabled.
They had been submitting false records and had been taking allowances
meant for the disabled,” Rajanna said.
Following this, the commissioner has recommended the case to the
state’s appellate authority, which will then put these records under
scrutiny and also call these suspicious candidates for health check-ups
to ascertain the disability they have. Meanwhile, the department has
also found that in the same district, three persons who have been
disabled during service have been denied salaries for as long as three
years.
“One person, V Subramanya, had lost his vision while in service.
Another person, Devraj, was paralysed and yet another person, Amarnath,
was rendered mentally ill during their service periods. This came to
light when we had gone to inspect the education department case. It is
shocking to note that no one had the knowledge that employees who are
disabled during service cannot be fired,” Rajanna said.
Department officials have also sent a circular, asking the department
of education to re-imburse the salaries and other benefits to these
three people. “This will include everything they have to rightfully
receive. From the DDPI to the officials, no one seems to know the rules.
We have given them orders to give them all counseling and treatment,
apart from giving them their full salaries and increments if they have
earned any,” Rajanna said.
The department has decided that since such cases are coming to light,
it would be better to have a record of all those working in the
government sector under the disability quota.
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'Teachers without disabilities misuse quota benefits'
Deccan Herald , 7th June 2013
As many as 18 teachers in Chintamani taluk, Chikkaballapur
district, have been found to be misusing facilities provided under the
disability quota.
Following an anonymous complaint about
45 teachers from the Education Department in Chintamani using
facilities available under the quota, State Commissioner for Persons
with Disabilities, K V Rajanna, visited the department on Wednesday and
evaluated the physical and medical examination certification of 42 of
the 45 teachers.
Of the remaining three teachers, one was on transfer, one had died and the other absent.
Of
the 42 teachers, 11 of them who had no signs of disability had managed
to get jobs under the disability quota. Seven others had got employment
under the general quota.
It was found that after getting their
jobs, these teachers had obtained medical certification from doctors
saying they were disabled and are enjoying for the past 10 years
facilities such as travel, income tax exemption among others, reserved
for the disabled.
“We have decided to register both cases at the
Commissioner’s Court and refer them to the Appellate Medical Authority
for a second opinion,” Rajanna said at a press conference here
on Friday.
During service
The commissioner said he also came across three teachers in the same taluk who had became disabled during their service.
V
Subramanya, a teacher who lost his eyesight, neither got his salary for
three years nor an alternative job. Similar are the cases of Devaraju,
who suffered a paralytical stroke a year and a half ago, and Amarnath, a
victim of mental illness for the past one year.
“Interestingly,
none of the officials from either the Education Department or their
associates knew that if a person was disabled while he/she is on the
job, he/she was entitled to salary and or an alternative job,” Rajanna
said.
If so many cases have sprung up in a single taluk, there is
a possibility of similar cases in the remaining 175 taluks across the
State, Rajanna said.
Medical certification
“Officers
in the different departments at the state, district and taluk level
should look into the medical certification of the disabled employees,
and in case of doubt, they must get a second opinion from the Appellate
Medical Authority,” he said.
State has fewer PH employees
The
number of disabled employees working in the State is less compared with
the neighbouring states, Rajanna said. “Approximately 7,000 to 8,000
disabled people are employed in the State. Whereas Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Andhra Pradesh among others have more than 30,000 persons with
disabilities employed. The low number in Karnataka is disappointing.”
He
said the Office of the State Commissioner for Disabilities will be
shortly shifted to the Slum Development Board premises in
Seshadripuram.
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‘18 ineligible teachers enjoying disability benefits’
The Hindu , 8th June 2013
Cases now referred to State-level appellate authority
The office of the State Commissioner for Persons with
Disabilities has found that at least 18 teachers of Chintamani taluk in
Chickballapur district have been claiming disability benefits, though
they are not eligible. These cases have now been referred to the
State-level appellate authority.
K.V. Rajanna, State
Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, told reporters here on
Friday that his office had received an anonymous complaint against 45
teachers in Chintamani, who were reportedly claiming disability
benefits, though they are not disabled.
After
physical examination and verification of their medical records on June
5, for which 42 teachers appeared before the Deputy Commissioner — one
teacher had passed away, one was transferred and one was absent; the
commission found that 18 teachers were claiming benefits, though they
were ineligible.
“As many as 11 teachers did not
have any perceivable disability. Seven teachers, who were appointed
under general quota, claimed to have developed disabilities. After
producing fake medical certificates, they were claiming disability
benefits, for more than 10 years,” he said.
He said that the medical certificates were not from the competent medical board.
A case had been registered in connection with the Chintamani incident.
He
said that the teachers association in Chintamani had brought to his
notice the case of three teachers who developed some disability during
service. However, after this, the education department had stopped
paying their wage.
V. Subramanya lost vision three
years ago, Devaraj suffered a paralytic stroke one-and-half years ago,
and Amarnath developed mental illness a year ago.
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