Amid massive backlash to her social media post questioning the need for a disability quota in civil services, Telangana-cadre IAS officer Smita Sabharwal on Monday asked the ‘rights activists’ to examine why the policy was yet to be implemented in police services, foreign services, and the defence sector.
IAS officer Smita Sabharwal (Image courtesy: X)
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“See a lot of outrage on my timeline. I suppose addressing the elephant in the room gets you that reaction. Would request the Rights Activists to also examine why this quota has still not been implemented in the IPS/IFoS and certain sectors like defence. My limited point is that the IAS is no different,” Sabharwal wrote on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter).
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“To live in an inclusive society is a dream that we all subscribe to. Insensitivity has no place in my mind. Jai Hind,” she added.
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“To live in an inclusive society is a dream that we all subscribe to. Insensitivity has no place in my mind. Jai Hind,” she added.
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The reaction from the bureaucrat of the 2001 batch, came a day after she took to X and wondered why a ‘premier service’ such as the IAS would require a quota for disability in the first place.
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“As this debate is blowing up,” she said, referring to the case of Puja Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer from Maharashtra.
“With all due respect to the Differently Abled, Does an Airline hire a pilot with disability? Or would you trust a surgeon with a disability? The nature of the #AIS (All-India Services) (IAS/IPS/IFoS) is field-work, long taxing hours, listening first hand to people’s grievances-which requires physical fitness,” Sabharwal posted.
Meanwhile, Amitabh Kant, India's ‘Sherpa’ for last year's G20 Summit in New Delhi and a former CEO of the NITI Aayog, has also called for a ‘review’ of the existing reservations for the differently-abled and the proposed 1% reservation for the third-gender in civil services.
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The reservations, alleged Kant, were being ‘misused.’
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Home/India News/IAS officer, criticised for remarks on disability quota, reacts: ‘Will Rights Activists…’
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