In DU, students with special abilities face testing times

That is only 3 per cent of the total seats in the undergraduate courses (including professional and technical) for candidates with physical disabilities. This year, 1,185 applicants had registered under the People with Disability (PwD) category. Reservation was also applicable to institutions where admission is through entrance examinations.

However, a statement from the DU mentioned that if the number of applicants for a course/institution exceeds the quota, a priority list of candidates will be prepared to take into account the score obtained in the qualifying examination for admission and severity of the disability of the student.

Despite this statement, when Naman Goel, suffering from special learning disorder, made his way to the DU, he faced inconvenience while submitting his medical report under the PwD category. In spite of continuous efforts and requests to the administration of the College of Vocational Studies, his report was not accepted stating that the signature of the doctor was missing from the report.

However, Naman said: “The college asked me to get in writing about my condition from the doctor, in spite of a medical report that had two stamps of the hospital. Nevertheless, I managed with the same but they still did not accept it and this time demanded a signature of the doctor concerned. It is becoming very difficult for me to deal with this situation.”

This happened after he withdrew his admission from Dyal Singh College where unlike the Vocational College they never asked him about anything in addition to his medical report.

A student studying in the College of Vocational Studies, Samya Verma, said: “I am very disappointed with the way they treated students of PwD. The administration’s misbehaviour towards a dyslexic student was not at all acceptable.”

This is not the lone case. Jyoti, a visually impaired student, said that she faced several issues in going through all the proceedings of admission. “Though Equal Opportunity Cell (EOC) helped me with all the forms and procedures but somehow it becomes a challenge for students like us to come within the ambit of the reserved three per cent,” said Jyoti.

The Dean Students Welfare, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), World University Service Health Centre constitute a medical board which consists of medical specialists in the concerned field of disability, rehabilitation experts and a nominee of the dean of faculty having special knowledge about the candidate and his/her ailment.

Many students under the PwD category face similar issues during admissions which most of the times go unnoticed.