The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the city Government to calculate the number of seats available for seven categories of disabled kids in nursery admissions after implementing the statutory three per cent quota in the total intake by private unaided schools.
“To illustrate if the total intake of seats for a given year is in the range of 1,000 the disability quota would be 3 per cent i.e. 30 seats, which would, for each of the seven subcategories work out to 4 seats,” a bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and RV Easwar said. The Government was also asked to find out which schools can cater to which type of disability in order to facilitate a broad scheme under which seats can be earmarked based upon the facilities in an institute.
“The Government of NCT should indicate which schools are geared up to cater to the concerned disability, i.e. Sight disability, hearing impairment, locomotive disability, blindness, etc...This is in order to facilitate a broad scheme whereby the seats are specifically earmarked having regard to the facilities in that school so that the highest concentration of students to be admitted from such category are admitted to the concerned institutions,” the court said.
Meanwhile, the court said the quota as per the Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 be kept vacant to await the outcome of the final decision in this case and listed the matter for further hearing on March 12. Before the next date of hearing, the court directed the Centre to indicate the funds available in terms of various schemes under the National Trust for Welfare of Persons Disabilities Act, 1999 and the trusts created under that Act as well as existing schemes formulated by it in that regard. The order came while hearing a plea challenging the lt Governor’s guidelines clubbing disabled kids with children from economically weaker groups (EWS) during nursery admissions.
The high court also made the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, a party in the case “for a fuller appreciation of the issues which are likely to arise in the present proceedings”. During the proceedings, Delhi government said the 3 per cent quota under the Disabilities Act of 1995 would have to be split up within the 25 per cent quota by way of horizontal reservation and the balance within the 75 per cent open category.
The Centre told the court that private schools can earmark seats for children with disability within the 75 per cent quota for open category. The Centre also said “that appointment of children with disability as a disadvantaged group is an enabling provision and would not be a reservation and that the sub-categorisation of 75 per cent reservation under the Right to Education (RTE) Act is within the domain of the state government”. Under the RTE Act, 75 per cent seats are open to all while 25 per cent are reserved for EWS category.