At a time when the nation is saluting Ira Singhal, a differently-abled woman for bagging top rank in the Union Public Services examinations 2014, results of which was published on Saturday,physically challengedpeople in the State are being deprived of even applying the Odisha Public Services examination in the State.Though the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has recently published advertisement for 630 posts and reserved two posts for differently-abled persons but it did not mention the specific category that what type of physically challenged person can apply.
“Three per cent of the vacancies in case of direct recruitment to Group A,B, C and D posts shall be reserved for persons with disabilities suffering from blindness or low vision, hearing impairment and locomotor disability in the posts identified for each disability. But in case of recent OPSC advertisement the category has not been mentioned. As a result we can’t apply,” rued Odisha Disabled People's Network State coordinator Sanyas Behera, who himself is visually impaired.
While Section 33 of the PWDs Act 1996 provides three percent reservationin Group A, B, C and D posts in Government servicesbut the Section 8 of the OPSC says that if a person hasa slight disability he/she cannot sit in civil services examinations which is arbitrary, said Behera.
Behera urged the OPSC and State Government to make necessary steps to ensure proper participation of physically-challenged people in Government services and OPSC examinations failing which he would move to the court of law.
Earlier, the OPSC had made a similar mistake by making an advertisement for the post of Group D (Political Science lecturer) for PWDs which was given to a nondisabled person illegally. The case is now pending in court.