March 8, 2019
Will the Medical Council of India (MCI) finally amend its
notification barring people with disabilities from studying medicine? There
may be reason to hope so.
On Thursday, the MCI told the Delhi High Court that it was
in “the process of amending its notification which debars people with
disabilities from pursuing medical courses”. This was during the hearing
into a petition filed by Dr Mohammed Shaloo challenging the
guideline barring MBBS doctors with a disability of over 80% from doing
further specialization.
Dr Shaloo has been a practising doctor for over two years now and has cleared
the post graduate medical entrance exam successfully. However, the new MCI
guidelines bar him from pursuing an MD.
In court, his lawyer, Advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal argued
that by way of making disabled people ineligible to enter medical courses,
the MCI was practising discrimination, and so the new guidelines should be
set aside.
“The PG course is barely weeks away and the court noted the urgency of the
matter” said Dr Shaloo to NewzHook. “Given the urgency,
the court said it would hear the matter early next week, on Tuesday”.
The MCI’s attitude has been repeatedly called out in judgements of various
high courts as well as the Supreme Court. Yet, it has persisted with its
discriminatory approach, points out disability rights crusader Dr
Satendra Singh, who has filed a petition challenging the recent
guidelines. Even now, he is cautious about the MCI’s next steps.
Based on my past experience with the MCI, I would prefer to wait and see
what they say in court. When I filed my PIL in February, the MCI lawyer did
not even turn up in court. If they wanted to change the guidelines, they
could have done it then. With just two weeks left for PG counselling, this
is sheer harassment. We have to see the changes in black and white, so
let’s wait for the guidelines to be out. This will surely help Dr Shaloo
and others like him but we cannot be sure. – Dr Satendra Singh,
Disability rights crusader
Advocate Bansal also struck a note of caution. “As far as Dr Shaloo’s
case is concerned, I do not foresee a problem because his is a locomotor
disability and the Ministry has been supportive of such cases. However there
are many other disabilities that the MCI has refused to recognize. For
instance, people with one hand and some blood disorders so let’s see what
they are trying to amend”.
The MCI’s biased and obstructionist behaviour in the matter has been
criticized strongly, not only by activists but leading figures in the medical
fraternity. Among them is Dr Upreet Dhaliwal, Former
Director-Professor of Ophthalmology, University College of Medical Sciences,
University of Delhi.
“By denying people with disability their right to train as doctors, we deny
patients with disabilities access to medical professionals who understand
their bodies and their reality from first-hand experience”.
The MCI has been shamed repeatedly for its attitude. High time it took steps
to correct this.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/21614
