The Delhi High Court has sought UPSC’s response on a plea demanding 1% reservation for blind and low-vision candidates in the Combined Medical Services Examination. The petition alleges UPSC violated the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act by not reserving any seats.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to reply to a petition that seeks 1 per cent reservation of seats for blind candidates in the Combined Medical Services Examination (CMSE). The petition has been filed by the organisation Mission Accessibility.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela also issued notices to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD).
ALSO READ: 2012 Pune Blasts: Bombay High Court Grants Bail to Accused After 12 Years in Jail
The court directed all these authorities to file their replies within four weeks. The matter will now be heard again on December 3.
The plea was argued by Advocate Rahul Bajaj, who requested directions to UPSC and DoPT to reserve 1 per cent of seats for blind and low-vision candidates in CMSE. This, he said, is required under Section 34(1)(a) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
The petition was filed after one of the members of Mission Accessibility, who is a blind/low vision candidate, faced discrimination during CMSE-2024.
Even though the candidate secured the minimum qualifying marks under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category, he was not called for the interview because no reservation was provided for blind candidates.
According to the plea, Section 34 of the Act makes it mandatory that government establishments should reserve at least 4 per cent of the total vacancies for PwBD candidates. Out of this, a minimum of 1 per cent must specifically be reserved for persons with blindness and low vision.
The petition further alleged that UPSC, which conducts CMSE for recruitment to posts under the Central Health Services, Indian Railways, and other government bodies, has failed to follow this legal requirement.
It stated,
“In a country where there is a well-acknowledged shortage of medical professionals, there [is] rational basis to exclude doctors with blindness or low vision-especially those who have c[ompleted] their MBBS degrees and compulsory internships-from service opportunities.”
The plea explained that with proper accommodations, doctors with blindness or low vision are fully capable of performing essential duties in public healthcare roles.
However, despite the law, UPSC has once again ignored this requirement in its latest notification for CMSE-2025.
The petition pointed out that although there are 705 vacancies notified for CMSE-2025, not a single post has been reserved for candidates with blindness or low vision.
This, the petition argued, shows a continuing violation of the Act. Raising concerns, it said there is a “reasonable apprehension” that the “grave injustice” which happened in CMSE-2024 and CMSE-2025 will continue in the next examination cycles too.
The petitioner has also requested that the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) should identify posts in the combined medical services which can be performed by blind and low-vision persons.
Further directions have been sought to DoPT, DEPwD, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to ensure that reasonable accommodations are made available to such candidates so that they can fully participate in medical services.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on UPSC
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
