*National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled* *4, Ashoka Road, New Delhi*
*Tel. 9868768543; email: [email protected]* May 2, 2013 *Press Statement* * * * * The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled is dismayed at the inordinate delay in the filling up of the vacancy of the Chairman of the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). The RCI, a statutory body, was established consequent to the passage of the RCI Act in 1992. The RCI is mandated to regulate the training policies and programmes in the field of rehabilitation of persons with disabilities; to bring about standardization of training courses for professionals dealing with persons with disabilities; to prescribe minimum standards of education and training of various categories of professionals/personnel dealing with people with disabilities etc. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) had constituted a Selection Committee for the Chairman of the RCI and a recommendation was made in June 2012. As per the recommendation of the Committee Dr. Sudesh Mukhopadhyay, Mr. Ajay Kumar Mittal and Dr. Manoj Kumar were ranked 1, 2 & 3 respectively. However, since Dr. Sudesh Mukhopadhyay is not eligible because of her being over age, the person ranked no. 2, Mr. Ajay Kumar Mittal, who is a blind person, should automatically have been considered for the post. As the government was delaying the appointment, the National Federation of the Blind through its General Secretary and Senior advocate, S K Rungta, filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court. Mr. Rungta contended that the department is trying to bypass the committee’s recommendation. He apprehended that the person ranked No. 3, may be appointed. The Delhi High Court bench headed by Chief Justice V.K. Jain in its order of April 3, 2013 directed the Department of Disability Affairs to forward the recommendation of the Select Committee to the ACC within three weeks and observed that the “selection will be normally based on the recommendation of the Selection Committee”. There are genuine apprehensions that efforts are afoot to mislead the ACC against the selection of Mr. Ajay Kumar Mittal. Any attempt at doing so will amount to denial of Mr. Mittal’s rights, denial of equal opportunities for persons with disabilities and against established conventions. It will also be a violation of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. *(Muralidharan)* *Assistant Convener* * * Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] 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
