DCW steps in after visually impaired woman is denied IRAS posting

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday issued a notice to Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in connection with a complaint by a visually impaired woman alleging cancellation of her appointment with Ministry of Railways due to her disability.

She qualified for the civil services examinations in 2015 and alleged that her initial appointment to the Indian Railways Accounts Service was cancelled because of her blindness. When she actively followed it up with DoPT, she was reallocated Postal and Telecommunication, Accounts and Finance Service.

“While she was allocated the IRAS service as per her rank in CSE-2015, her appointment was cancelled by the Ministry of Railways. She has further alleged that after several weeks of follow-ups she has now been allocated IP and TAF service which is in contravention of her rank, merit and preference of service,” said Swati Maliwal, DCW chief in the notice issued to DoPT Secretary B P Sharma. 

“It is clear that the lady has already undergone a great deal of struggle even after clearing the civil services examination with a good rank. She has faced enormous challenges in life. Crucial time of training and foundation course has been wasted due to systemic delays. Therefore, it is necessary that immediate action is taken to rectify the same,” the notice further read.

The Commission has asked for factual reports, reasons for rejection of IRAS service allocated to the complainant and action plan of the Department of Personnel and Training to resolve this issue and 

compensate the loss of time of the candidate from B P Sharma, Secretary, DoPT latest by January 23.