Govt increases quota for disabled people for admission to PG medical courses to 5%

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday announced increase in the seats reserved for people with disabilities for admission to post graduate medical courses from 3% to 5%.

The move came after the ministry of health and family welfare granted approval to amend the regulation for admission to post graduate medical courses in order to expand the scope of persons with disabilities getting the 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. After twenty years the government has taken a historic decision for welfare of divyang sisters and brothers, ensuring that they are equal contributors to the progress of the nation,” J.P. Nadda, union minister of health and family welfare said.

“Now all 21 benchmark disabilities as per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 can register for admission to medical courses,” he added.

The 21 disabilities are: 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 deaf-blindness), acid attack victim and parkinson’s disease.

[“Source-livemint”]