MCI likely to raise disability bar to 40% for medical aspirants - Times of India
NEW DELHI: The Medical Council of India (MCI) has proposed to set a higher bar for disabled candidates seeking admission to under-graduate medical courses. In a recent public notice, it suggested setting minimum degree of disability at 40 per cent in order to avail reservation by persons with specified disability, whereas those with visual impairment and hearing impairment of less than 40 per cent may be eligible for the medical course but not for reservation. While the health ministry has called for public opinion on the issue, the medical fraternity and activists contend that the proposed guidelines violate the disability Act by not allowing individuals suffering from certain categories of disabilility to pursue the career of their choice. Earlier, in many categories such as for persons with learning disabilities, aspirants with less than 40 per cent disabilities were also allowed to avail reservations. Though the MCI has proposed the amendments to align its guidelines with the existing disability law, disability activists maintain that specific learning disabilities are not quantifiable and therefore, it may be unfair to set the benchmark so high. They also emphasize that while visual impairment like low vision and hearing impairment like hard of hearing are also disabilities, these categories must get the benefit of quota. The medical education regulator has also proposed changes to eligibility criteria for aspirants with locomotor disabilities. While the minimum bar of disability has been set at 40 per cent, the upper limit is 80 per cent. This means those below 40 per cent will not get quota and those beyond 80 per cent will be eligible with a rider for which the amendments have introduced a caveat for such candidates. "Persons with more than 80 per cent disability may also be allowed; but after their selection, their functional competency will be determined with the aid of assistive devices," the MCI notice said. The notification of the proposed changes in guidelines by MCI resulted in confusion among aspirants about their eligibility for physically handicapped quota, which is around 5 per cent of about 60,000 seats in 600-odd medical colleges across the country. Taking cognizance of concerns raised by medical aspirants with disabilities, the health ministry has asked the National Testing Agency and MCI to allow such aspirants to fill the application form for NEET-UG, 2019-20 on the basis of the draft guidelines posted on the website of the MCI. The last date of submission of NEET online form has also been extended from November 30 to December 7. --- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. https://www.avg.com Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
