Man fights disability, cuts red-tap to enter civil service Staff Reporter | New Delhi
After going through a gruesome legal battle for five years, TD Dinakar, a visually challenged man, on Thursday got relief as the central government informed the Delhi High Court that he will be offered a post ranked 'Category A' in the Indian Railway Personnel Service. This makes him the first totally blind person in the prestigious civil services. The news came as a divine light after five years to a visually challenged person, who despite passing the civil services examination in 2001 was not welcomed in the government service. Dinakar, a resident from Coimbatore, had qualified the civil service examination with 1185 marks in 2001. He had moved to the court seeking relief as he was denied job even after passing one of the toughest examinations of the country in general category. The submissions made by him in the petition was that after even after the parliament has passed the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in 1995 which reserves 3% seats for disabled persons, they were denied their rights. After the court's intervention Dinkar was offered a lower ranked post, which he refused, and he decided to fight for his rights. The court meanwhile ordered the government to earmark posts for such candidates and give them their rights. Finally after fighting for five years Dinkar got justice in the form of a post in Indain Railways. The central government counsel informed a Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukundakam Sharma and Justice Hema Kohli that the government has decided to offer T D Dinakar the rank of Indian Railway Personnel Service as he is visually impaired. Dinkar has been lucky enough to get justice there are many such people who pass the examination but due to the fact that they are physically challenged don't get incorporated in the services. Manoj Sadasivan from Kerala qualified the examination even after being disabled, as he could not hear. Sadasivan never got a chance to work even after pleading the matter before the President KR Narayanan in 2001. Another case similar awaiting justice is of Mani Ram Sharma from Bharatpur Rajasthan who also qualified the civil services examination but still could not serve the nation. http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=CITY&file_name=city9Etxt&counter_img=9 Vikas Kapoor, MSN ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype ID: dl_vikas Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
