Just now on my twitter timeline, I have seen a retweet from Ministry of
Railways informing about directions of Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu to allot
her the IRAS seat as per original allocation by the DOPT.
----- Original Message -----
From: "avinash shahi" <shahi88avin...@gmail.com>
To: "accessindia" <accessindia@accessindia.org.in>; "jnuvision"
<jnuvis...@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "jnudpa" <jnu...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 2:34 PM
Subject: [AI] Naveeta Singh reports in the DNA today: Visually impaired
cracks UPSC, Railways refuses to employ her
For Pranjal Patil, a 28-year-old visually challenged woman from
Ulhasnagar, cracking the UPSC exam in her first attempt has proved far
easier than getting a government job. Because, the gritty woman has
been running from pillar to post after being informed that she would
get a job in the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS). And the
reason is: the Railways now claims that someone who is visually
challenged is ineligible for the job.
http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-visually-impaired-cracks-upsc-rlys-refuses-to-employ-her-2289089
In May 2016, Patil cleared the examination with an all-India rank of
773. "Around June-July, I got a letter from the Department of
Personnel and Training (DoPT) that I have been allotted a job in the
IRAS, and that the training would begin in December 2016," said Patil,
who is currently in Delhi.
Patil waited patiently for December to arrive so that she could live
her long-cherished dream of becoming an IAS officer. But her hopes
were dashed when there was no communication from DoPT or the Railways.
"When I contacted them in the first week of December regarding the
training, they verbally told me that they cannot appoint a person with
100 per cent blindness," added Patil.
In a letter dated November 8, 2016, the Railways informed the DoPT
that they could not accept Patil's candidature. "Only partially blind
(PB) candidates under visually impaired (VI) category are recruited to
IRAS. Therefore, it is not feasible to accept the candidature of Patil
Pranjal Lahensingh for IRAS," reads the letter. "The dossier is
returned for further action as per your end," it states.
When contacted on the issue, the Railways blamed DoPT for the
"confusion" and said Patil was never eligible for a job in IRAS due to
her 100 per cent blindness. A Railway official, who did not wish to be
named, said, "DoPT knows that people with 100% blindness cannot get a
job in IRAS. Patil's file should not have come to us in the first
place. However, when Patil's dossier came to us, we returned it to
DoPT. DoPT should have communicated this to Patil."
Stressing that the Railways has no role in the matter, the official
added that DoPT should allot an alternative job to Patil at the
earliest.
Patil is furious that neither DoPT nor the Railways bothered to inform
her about this. These developments came as quite a blow to her,
because she had never believed in the word impossible even when she
lost her vision completely at the age of six.
"I was disgusted, sad, hurt, angry, and all at the same time. Like
others, I had also cleared the UPSC exams. But why do I have to face
this situation," she asks.
Patil feels that India has a progressive system only on paper, and the
ground reality is very different. "On one hand, we have job
reservations for the differently abled, but the situation is different
when it comes to implementation," she adds.
She also questions India's faith in digital revolution: "It was with
the help of technology that I was able to crack UPSC; and I am sure
that if trained adequately, then with the help of technology I will be
able to handle this position," she says.
Patil has already written to higher officials and is waiting for their
response before taking up any legal step. "I wrote to the Prime
Minister's Office and Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. I have not
received any response from them yet. I will wait for some time and
then decide on the legal recourse to this," she said.
Whatever happens, Patil wants two things to come out of this fight. "I
want the railways to relax this rule of not employing those with 100
per cent blindness. And secondly, if they allot me any service, it
should be as per my rank and merit and not as per their convenience,"
she asserts.
(Inputs from Sana Shakil)
--
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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