Denied admission for medical course, another differently-abled teen moves HC
Another differently-abled student moved the high court after the Directorate of Medical Education and Research rejected her admission application for the dental course, saying she was “not eligible for the physically handicapped quota”.
Another differently-abled student moved the high court after the Directorate of Medical Education and Research rejected her admission application for the dental course, saying she was “not eligible for the physically handicapped quota”.
This is the third such case this month (see box, HC to their aid), revealing the state
government’s lethargy to set
up proper guidelines for admissions of differently-abled students in professional courses.
In the MHT-CET examination held in June, Ankita Jangam (17), who has disability of the lower limb, stood fourth in the city in the differently-abled category and 26th in the state.
The teenager, who belongs to the Other Backward Class category, had secured 83 per cent in the SSC board exams and 73 per cent in the HSC exams.
Ankita’s father, Avinash, filed the petition on her behalf because she is still a minor.
Ankita’s lawyer, A.K. Gupta, argued that the All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Haji Ali, which is a certified institute by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has given a certificate saying Ankita is 55 per cent disabled.
Ankita applied for admission in the Bachelor of Dental Surgery, but she received a letter from the DMER on July 21 saying: “It is found that your disability of lower limb was 35 per cent. Hence, you are not eligible for physically handicapped quota claim.”
Gupta said there was no proper classification on the percentage of disability beyond which admission cannot be granted to a differently-abled student.
“The DMER does not have proper criteria for rejecting or admitting students,” Gupta added.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari kept the matter for hearing on August 18.