Notice to varsities on 3% quota for diff-abled staff

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notice on a plea seeking strict implementation of the three per cent reservation meant for physically-challenged in teaching and non-teaching posts in all the universities and colleges which were not filled up from 1996 onwards for future recruitment.

A division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice R Hemalatha before whom the plea came up for hearing on Thursday directed the petitioner’s counsel Jimraj Milton to implead the universities concerned and posted the case for further hearing to November 2.

Petitioner P Venkatesan of Krishnagiri, on pointing out as to how after a struggle he had obtained the post of Assistant Professor in Department of Social Work in Bharathiyar University under the three per cent reservation for the differently-abled under Persons with Disability Act, 1995, said many like him were not getting their rights and opportunities due to lack of awareness and the university was also not giving proper advertisement on availability of seats for differently-abled persons at the recruitment notification.

Noting that on resigning to serve the cause of diffabled persons in this regard and that he had collected information about the appointment of diff-abled persons from 1996 to 2017, the petitioner submitted that information obtained through Right to Information Act revealed that none of the universities is complying to the three per cent internal allocation in filling up of backlogged seats for differently-abled persons.