Showing posts with label Reservation for Mentally Challenged. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reservation for Mentally Challenged. Show all posts

Monday, August 19, 2013

SC directs the Govt. to give suitable jobs to employees with Mental Illness

Dear Colleagues,

In a path-breaking development, the Supreme Court while quoting Section 47 has set aside the Order of Compulsory retirement of the 1977 batch IAS officer and directed DoPT to pay him the full salary, except the subsistence allowance already received, for the period from the date of initiation of departmental proceeding till his date of superannuation.

Though, the Supreme Court has done some justice with the case, but it is loo late and too less. The said has been suffering at the hands of whimsical department who not only suffered at the hands of inquiry committee instituted in 1993 that took 11 years to give its finding declaring him insane. The officer was compulsorily retired thereafter.

There are various candidates who, having lived with mental illness and rehabilitated after a regular course of medication are not given any benefit of reservation or of preference in appointment in the civil services or any other service under the government. The draft of new Act though includes mental illness as one of the condition eligible for reservation in jobs under the disability quota however, one never know how long will this process take for the law to take shape and extend benefits to those living with disabilities not included in the existing Act. The act itself is discriminatory towards many other conditions since it is based on a medical model and goes strictly by the medical conditions, hence in effect renders many others excluded though equally or more marginalized and disabled.

Here is the news coverage from Hindustan Times.

Bhadra Sinha, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, August 19, 2013

State administration cannot dispense with ore reduce rank of a government servant if he or she acquires disability including mental illness or retardation during service, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Quoting the provisions of The Persons with disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 a bench of Justice GS Singhvi and Justice SJ Mukopadhyaya held that if a person is found unsuitable for the post he or she holds on account of acquired disability during service, he or she should be moved to another post suitable to his or her state.

The bench further held that under section 47 of the Act if it wasn't possible to adjust such a person against any post, the government authority ought to keep him or her on a supernumerary post until a suitable one is available until the employee attains the age of superannuation.

With these observations the court recently directed the Union Ministry of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to pay consequential benefits to a 1977 batch IAS officer, Anil Kumar Mahajan, who was compulsorily retired from service on October 15 2007 after a disciplinary inquiry declared him insane. The inquiry report came 11 years after it was instituted in 1993 when he worked with the Bihar government.

At the time of inquiry the officer was placed under suspension twice. His representation for a voluntary retirement was turned down by the DoPT on the ground he hadn't completed the minimum service of 20 years. Later, however, the ministry compulsorily retired him.

Mahajan later challenged the findings of the disciplinary proceedings before the Central Administrative Tribunal, which turned down his plea.

However, on his appeal the SC set aside the order of compulsory retirement and said: "The appellant was appointed in the service of respondents as an IAS officer and joined in the year 1977. He served for 30 years till the order of his compulsory retirement was issued on October 15, 2007. It is not the case of the respondents (DoPT) that the appellant was insane and in spite of that he was appointed as an IAS Officer in 1977."

Observing "some problem was going on between the appellant and authorities of the state (Bihar)," the court said: "In view of the aforesaid finding, we are of the view that it was not open to the authorities to dispense with the service of  appellant or to compulsory retire him from service."

The court further said: "The High Court also failed to notice the relevant fact and without going into the merit allowed the counsel to withdraw the writ petition merely on the basis of the finding of Inquiry Officer."

Since in normal course Mahajan would have retired from service on July 31, 2012, the SC directed DoPT to pay him the full salary, except the subsistence allowance already received, for the period from the date of initiation of departmental proceeding till his date of superannuation.




Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Reservation for Mentally Challenged Persons



Posted: Wed Jul 21 2010, 02:46 hrs

Why isn’t there any reservation for mentally retarded people in Mohali’s Aerocity project? Raising this vital question a 39-year-old resident of Punjab, who has been suffering from mental illness for the last 15 years, has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court demanding separate reservation for mentally retarded persons other than the reservation for physically disabled.

Taking stock of the petition and considering it to be a question of public importance, Justice Surya Kant has issued notices to the state and referred the petition to be taken up as public interest. Hearing on the plea has been deferred to August 11. Arguing on behalf of petitioner Gurcharan Singh, advocate R S Bains has sought directions to the state of Punjab to “to include mentally challenged ain the category of disabled persons since the Act does not differentiate between the physically and mentally disabled as far as affirmative actions by the state are concerned”. Vehemently arguing and terming the reservation policy as “non violative” of the guidelines laid down, Bains has sought directions “to modify the consolidated reservation policy for allotment of houses and plots for physically handicapped or the visually impaired”. The petitioner has also demanded that a “fresh and comprehensive scheme for fulfilling the mandate of Disabilities Act” shall be formulated.

The petitioner has been suffering from mental illness since 1985 and is undergoing treatment at PGIMER, Chandigarh, could not apply under the reserve categories due to the anomaly in the policy and the advertisement and had to apply in the general category.

“This relief shall be provided to all the similar situated persons and also to earmark at least one seventh of the plots (category wise) exclusively for the mentally ill persons (out of the three percent plots collectively reserved for physically handicapped/ blind persons) for which the authorities have invited applications in the Aero City, Mohali and for grant of any other relief,” Bains demanded. The petitioner has demanded separate reservation for mentally ill persons other than the reservation already prescribed for physically disabled persons.