June 15, 2019
As if all the stress that goes into clearing the medical entrance
exam is not enough, disabled students who have cleared the NEET have another
battle ahead. This time for the medical certification needed by the Medical
Council of India for counselling of people with disabilities in
MBBS.
It took nearly a fortnight and five trips from his hometown in Haryana to the
Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Chandigarh
before Mr B, who wishes to remain identified, got the
medical certificate his son needed to sit for the counseling that all
disabled medical aspirants are required to undergo
Mr B’s son, who has a hearing impairment, already has a disability
certificate and Rule 19 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPD) Act
2016 says that the disability certificate issued under Section 18 of the Act
is enough to enjoy all government concessions, schemes and benefits.
Yet the Medical Council of India (MCI) has said that all
disabled medical aspirants must get a separate disability certificate from
one of the 10 centres in India it has selected. Last year there were just
four centres and following an uproar, the number was increase but even this
is inadequate. For instance, there are just two centres for all of North
India. “I had to travel from Meerut to Chandigarh for my certificate”, says
RP, a student with a hearing impairment who wants to stay
anonymous. “There was no one at GMCH to check me and I had to wait for a few
days. There should be more centres”.
But why the need for a double certification at all, ask experts. A petition
challenging the requirement for a double certification was filed by
disability rights leader Dr Satendra Singh in February this
year. That case will come up for hearing in early August, by which time the
first and second rounds of counselling for NEET will be over.
One of the prayers was that the double certification should be done away
with to begin with. Having introduced this, they should at least ensure
that there are enough experts available for counseling students. Instead
they are being out through long waits or turned away. – Dr Satendra
Singh, Doctors with Disabilities
Mr B* agrees. “If they want to do this, they should have more centres and
the certification must be done faster”.
Both the RPD Act and the Unique Disability ID scheme do not allow this
practice of double certification, yet the MCI continues to make the demand
putting disabled students through immense harassment.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22552
