Chhattisgarh HC directs chief secretary to file personal affidavit on disability certificates verification – Times of India

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the state chief secretary to file a personal affidavit explaining why no positive steps are being taken to verify physical disability certificates in accordance with the circular issued by him in May 2019.
The division bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Sanjay K Agrawal, on Monday insisted on a personal affidavit from the chief secretary of Chhattisgarh while hearing the public interest litigation filed by the Chhattisgarh Divyang Seva Sangh (CDSS) against the State of Chhattisgarh and others. The issue raised in the petition could be described as “sensitive” regarding the misuse of Divyang certificates by individuals who are not genuinely disabled, said Sangharsh Pandey, the counsel for the petitioner.
Earlier, Radhakrishna Gopal, a resident of Janjgir-Champa in Chhattisgarh, who is a disabled person and associated with CDSS, had filed a PIL in the High Court in his personal capacity. The petition alleged that more than 50% of the people working in government departments under the disability quota are not genuine. Most of them work on the basis of a temporary disability certificate, which allows them to work for up to three to five years as there is always a possibility of improvement in their health condition. The counsel for the petitioner added that their certificates and health conditions should have been thoroughly verified or examined.
While hearing the PIL in 2019, the court observed that there were allegations of the misuse of disability certificates in the government and directed the chief secretary to take necessary steps for the review of certificates and health conditions of the non-genuine people enjoying benefits in government jobs on the basis of disability certificates.
The court asked the then chief secretary, Sunil Kumar Kujur, to ensure that no person who is otherwise not physically disabled is allowed to use the benefits that a genuine person under the Person with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 is entitled to. The court issued this direction due to numerous allegations of misuse of disability certificates and easy access to non-genuine persons for obtaining employment or benefits.
In pursuance of the court order, the then chief secretary had issued a circular in May 2019 instructing the heads of government departments to implement the court order. However, the order was not implemented, compelling the Divyang Sangh to file another PIL with details of 18 persons, most of whom have temporary disability certificates, enjoying benefits on the basis of fake disability certificates in government departments.
The petitioner submitted that the rights of disabled or differently-abled persons are being curtailed by candidates who are physically fit but are able to secure appointments on governmental posts under the handicap category only on the basis of disability certificates obtained through wrongful or illegal means. Some of them are even holding posts of deputy collector and post of other class two officers, said counsel Pandey.
Surprisingly, one or two persons who are in government jobs did not furnish disability certificates when they appeared for the Public Service Commission examination for two to three continuous failure attempts, but all of a sudden, the same applications qualified the same examination under the disability quota, and submitted the counsel.
As per rules, a person with 40% disability or above can be considered genuine, argued the counsel. He also presented the case of Jammu and Kashmir, where a person with a benchmark disability is eligible for a government job, as well as the case of the Odisha government in the court.