The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has granted approval to amend the regulation for admission to PG medical courses in order to expand the scope of persons with disabilities getting benefit of reservation. The percentage of seats to be filled up by persons with disabilities has been increased from 3% to 5% in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Commenting on this decision, Shri J P Nadda stated that after twenty years the Government has taken a historical decision for welfare of divyang sisters and brothers in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’, ensuring that they are equal contributors to the progress of the nation. “Now all 21 benchmark disabilities as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 can register for admission to medical courses”, Shri Nadda added.

According to the amended provision, 21 kinds of Disabilities (as per Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016) that includes Blindness, Low-vision, Leprosy Cured persons, Hearing Impairment (deaf and hard of hearing), Locomotor Disability, Dwarfism, Intellectual Disability,  Mental Illness, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Chronic Neurological conditions, Specific Learning Disabilities, Multiple Sclerosis, Speech and Language disability, Thalassemia, Hemophilia, Sickle Cell disease, Multiple Disabilities (including deafblindness), Acid Attack victim, Parkinson’s disease, will now be considered under the reservation provided for persons with disabilities.

Accordingly, the software used by DGHS for central counseling has also been amended to allow registration of all such candidates. Registration/allotment of seats would be followed by a medical examination to ascertain the level of Disability before finally granting admission to candidates selected under the reserved quota.