Shimla: Himachal Pradesh government has given a big relief to the visually impaired and other candidates who can’t write their examination papers due to disability.
Now they can engage even scribe with higher qualification if the examination conducting agency fails to provide one.
Ajai Srivastava, expert member of HP State Advisory Board on Disability, had raised this issue with Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and urged him to ensure the compliance of a judgement of Delhi High Court and the directions of the Central Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and UGC.
Srivastava said that the department of social justice and empowerment had notified the old set of guidelines issued by the central government for the conduct of examinations for the visually impaired and other candidates who cannot write due to disability. In these guidelines, it was made mandatory for the eligible examinees to bring a scribe “one step junior” in qualification. But the Delhi High Court had directed the union ministry for social justice and empowerment, and UGC etc. that if the examination conducting agency fails to provide the scribe, the candidates may bring their own scribe and no criteria of educational qualification of such scribes shall be fixed.
This direction was to be complied with across the country through the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, UGC and other ministries in all academic and competitive examinations, including for jobs.
The state government had issued the guidelines by ignoring the directions of the Court and central government, Srivastava said and after the intervention of Umang Foundation, new guidelines as per the directions of the central government were implemented.
