good achievement, we must salute a petitioner's struggle.
----- Original Message -----
From: "raghuraman" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 8:46 PM
Subject: [AI] supreme court opens up medical studies for v i friends
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA OPENS DOORS FOR MEDICAL STUDENT WITH VISUAL
IMPAIRMENT
A recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India appears to have opened new
opportunities for the visually impaired. A young student, Nitin Mantri,
had dreamt of becoming a Doctor from his early years: not an uncommon
dream among the youngsters. What made the dream of Nitin so special was
the fact that he was visually impaired. Due to his visual impairment,
there were strong chances of his denied admission to a Medical College.
The inspiring stories of blind and low vision doctors are not absent from
our memory. One immediately recalls the name of Late Salma Maqbool of
Pakistan, who not only was a successful practicing doctor, but was an
important leader in the blindness field.
Despite knowing that the road may be difficult for him, Nitin persisted
with his dream and tried to seek admission in a medical college. He
scored much higher percentage of marks than the cut off percentage, yet he
was denied admission. He was admitted only after the High Court of Madhya
Pradesh intervened.
Social, administrative, and political prejudices cannot be easily set
aside. His institution as well as the Government of his State appealed in
the Supreme Court of India. After 9 months of toil, Nitin obtained the
judgment in his favour: "There are no rules to bar a visually impaired
student from studying medicine", the Supreme Court ruled.
The ruling is important not just for Nitin Mantrie but for the entire
visual impairment sector. Its significance rests in two respects. Firstly,
it has opened new avenues of study and employment for the visually
impaired. The Supreme Court of India judgment can be cited as an example
by individuals and blindness organizations in other countries to obtain
similar facilities in their respective countries. The UNCRPD already
advocates the principle of "Reasonable Accommodation". This principle can
help us in opening up new opportunities in the areas of education and
employment.
Secondly, the case in reference brings an important message to all of us.
That is that given the will and determination, the most difficult doors
can also open. So finally it is clear: the cure to our problems lies only
with us.
taken from asian blind union june edition
cheers raghu
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