By IANS,
Shimla : The Himachal Pradesh High Court Friday asked the director of elementary education here to state his department’s policy on reservation for the physically challenged in jobs.
This comes less than a month after the high court came to the rescue of three visually impaired girls from a deprived background.
A division bench of Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rajiv Sharma has asked the director to file an affidavit on whether the policy of reservation for the physically challenged has been implemented.
It also sought information on how many persons have been appointed under the three percent quota fixed under the Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 so far.
The court acted on a letter of Mehar Singh, who is working as a part-time water carrier in a government school.
Singh said that the services of many employees appointed after him had been regularised but his service had not.
The court asked the director to reply as to why the petitioner, who is visually impaired, had not been granted the benefit of reservation.
The case will be next heard Oct 17.
Earlier, acting on a letter written by Ajai Srivastava, chairman of Umang Foundation, an NGO working for disabled and thalassemic children, the court directed the government Aug 3 not to charge tuition and hostel fees from three visually impaired girls of Class 11 in a Shimla school, as long the case is pending in the court.
It also directed the government to provide details of the facilities provided to these girls and other physically challenged children studying in government-run institutes.