Dopt Orders on 29th December 2005 - Reservation for the Persons with Disabilities
No. 36035/3/2004-Estt(Res)
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS
DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL &TRAINING
New Delhi, Dated the 29th December, 2005
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject:
Reservation for the Persons with Disabilities.With
a view to consolidating the existing instructions, bringing them in
line with the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection
of Rights & Full Participation) Act, 1995 and clarifying certain
issues including procedural matters, the following instructions are
issued with regard to reservation for persons with disabilities
(physically handicapped persons) in posts and services under the
Government of India. These instructions shall supercede all previous
instructions issued on the subject so far.
2. QUANTUM OF RESERVATION(i)
Three percent of the vacancies in case of direct recruitment to Group
A, B, C and D posts shall be reserved for persons with disabilities of
which one per cent each shall be reserved for persons suffering from (i)
blindness or low vision, (ii) hearing impairment and (iii) locomotor
disability or cerebral palsy in the posts identified for each
disability;
(ii) Three percent of the vacancies in case of
promotion to Group D, and Group C posts in vvhiCh the Clement of direct
recruitment, if any, does not exceed 75%, shall be reserved for persons
with disabilities of which one per cent each shall be reserved for
persons suffering from (i) blindness or low vision, (ii) hearing
impairment and (iii) locomotor disability or cerebral palsy in the posts
identified for each disability.
3. EXEMPTION FROM RESERVATION :
If any Department / Ministry considers it necessary to exempt any
establishment partly or fully from the provision of reservation for
persons with disabilities, it may make a reference to the Ministry of
Social Justice and Empowerment giving full justification for the
proposal. The grant of exemption shall be considered by an
Inter-Departmental Committee set up by the Ministry of Social Justice
and Empowerment.
4. IDENTIFICATION OF JOBS / POSTS:
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have identified the jobs
/ posts suitable to be held by persons with disabilities and the
physical requirement for all such jobs / posts vide their notification
no. 16-25/99.NI.I dated 31.5.2001. The jobs / posts given in Annexure II
of the said notification as amended from time to time shall be used to
give effect to 3 per cent reservation to the persons with disabilities.
It may, however, be noted that:
(a) The nomenclature used for any
job / post shall mean and include nomenclature used for other
comparable jobs / posts having identical functions.
(b) The list
of jobs / posts notified by the Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment is not exhaustive. The concerned Ministries / Departments
shall have the discretion to identify jobs / posts in addition to the
jobs / posts already identified by the Ministry of Social Justice &
Empowerment. However, no Ministry / Department / Establishment shall
exclude any identified job / post from the purview of reservation at its
own discretion.
(c) If a job/ post identified for persons with
disabilities is shifted from on group or grade to another group or grade
due to change in the !Day-scale or otherwise, the job/ post shall
remain identified.
5. RESERVATION IN POSTS IDENTIFIED FOR ONE OR TWO CATEGORIES:
If a post is identified suitable only for one category of disability,
reservation in that post shall be given to persons with that disability
only. Reservation of 3% shall not be reduced in such cases and total
reservation in the post will be given to persons suffering from the
disability for which it has been identified. Likewiie in case the post
is identified suitable for two categories of disabilities, reservation
shall be distributed between persons with those categories of
disabilities equally, as far its possible. It shall, however, be ensured
that reservation in different posts in the establishment is distributed
in such a way that the persons of three categories of disabilities, as
far as possible, get equal representation.
6. APPOINTMENT AGAINST UNRESERVED VACANCIES:
In the posts which are identified suitable for persons with
disabilities, a person with disability cannot be denied the right to
compete for appointment against an unreserved vacancy. Thus a person
with disability can be appointed against an unreserved vacancy, provided
the post is identified suitable for persons with disability of the
relevant category.
7. ADJUSTMENT OF CANDIDATES SELECTED ON THEIR OWN MERIT :
Persons with disabilities selected on their own merit without relaxed
standards alongwith other candidates, will not be adjusted against the
reserved share of vacancies. The reserved vacancies will be filled up
separately from amongst the eligible candidates with disabilities which
will thus comprise physically handicapped candidates who are lower in
merit than the last candidate in merit list but otherwise found suitable
for appointment, if necessary, by relaxed standards. It will apply in
case of direct recruitment as well as promotion, wherever reservation
for persons with disabilities is admissible.
8. DEFINITIONS OF DISABILITIES : Definitions of categories of disabilities for the purpose of this Office Memorandum are given below:
(i)(a) Blindness: "Blindness" refers to a condition where a person suffers from any of the following conditions, namely:-
(i) total absence of sight; or
(ii) visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200(snellen) in the better eye with correcting lenses; or
(iii) limitation of the field of vision subtending an angle of 20 degree or worse;
(b)
Low vision: "Person with low vision" means a person with impairment of
visual functioning even after treatment or standard refractive
correction but who uses or is potentially capable of using vision for
the planning or execution of a task with appropriate assistive device.
(ii)
Hearing Impairment:- "Hearing Impairment" means loss of sixty decibels
or more in the better ear in the conversational range of frequencies.
(iii)(a)
Locomotor disability : "Locomotor disability" means disability of the
bones, joints or muscles leading to substantial restriction of the
movement of the limbs or any form of cerebral palsy.
(b) Cerebral
Palsy :- "Cerebral Palsy" means a group of non-progressive conditions
of a person characterised by abnormal motor control posture resulting
from brain insult or injuries occurring in the pre-natal, peri-natal or
infant period of development.
(c) All the cases of
orthopaedically handicapped persons would be covered under the category
of "locomotor disability or cerebral palsy."
9. DEGREE OF DISABILITY FOR RESERVATION :
Only such persons would be eligible for reservation in services / posts
who suffer from not less than 40 per cent of relevant disability. A
person who wants to avail of benefit of reservation would have to submit
a Disability Certificate issued by a competent authority in the format
given in Annexure I.
10. COMPETENT AUTHORITY TO ISSUE DISABILITY CERTIFICATE :-
The competent authority to issue Disability Certificate shall be a
Medical Board duly constituted by the Central or a State Government. The
Central / State Government may constitute Medical Board(s) consisting
of at least three members out of which at least one shall be a
specialist in the particular field for assessing locomotor / cerebral /
visual / hearing disability, as the case may be.
11. The Medical
Board shall, after due examination, give a permanent disability
certificate in cases of such permanent disabilities where there are no
chances of variation in the degree of disability. The Medical Board
shall indicate the period of validity of the certificate, in cases where
there are chances of variation in the degree of disability. No refusal
of disability certificate shall be made unless an opportunity is given
to the applicant of being heard. On representation by the applicant, the
Medical Board may review its decision having regard to all the facts
and circumstances of the case and pass such orders in the matter as it
thinks fit.
12. At the time of initial appointment and promotion
against a vacancy reserved for persons with disability, the appointing
authority shall ensure that the candidate is eligible to get the benefit
of reservation.
13. COMPUTATION OF RESERVATION:
Reservation for persons with disabilities in case of Group C and Group D
posts shall be computed on the basis of total number of vacancies
occurring in all Group C or Giwup D posts, as the case may be, in the
establishment, although the recruitment of the persons with disabilities
would only be in the posts identified suitable for them. The number of
vacancies to be reserved for the persons with disabilities in case of
direct recruitment to Group 'C' posts in an establishment shall be
computed by taking into account the total number of vacancies arising in
Group 'C' posts for being filled by direct recruitment in a recruitment
year both in the identified and non-identified posts under the
establishment. The same procedure shall apply for Group `13' posts.
Similarly, all vacancies in promotion quota shall be taken into account
while computing reservation in promotion in Group 'C' and Group `13'
posts. Since reservation is limited to identified posts only and number
of vacancies reserved is computed on the basis of total vacancies (in
identified posts as well as unidentified posts), it is possible that
number of persons appointed by reservation in an identified post may
exceed 3 per cent.
14. Reservation for persons with disabilities
in Group `A . posts shall be computed on the basis of vacancies
occurring in direct recruitment quota in all the identified Group 'A'
posts in the establishment. The same method of computation applies for
Group 'B' posts.
15. EFFECTING RESERVATION — MAINTENANCE OF ROSTERS.(a)
All establishments shall maintain separate 100 point reservation roster
registers in the format given in Annexure II for determining /
effecting reservation for the disabled — one each for Group 'A' posts
filled by direct recruitment, Group 'B' posts filled by direct
recruitment, Group 'C' posts filled by direct recruitment, Group 'C'
posts filled by promotion, Group 'D' posts filled by direct recruitment
and Group 'D' posts filled by promotion.
(b) Each register shall
have cycles of 100 points and each cycle of 100 points shall be divided
into three blocks, comprising the following points:
1 st Block - point No.1 to point No.33
2nd Block - point No. 34 to point No.66
3rd Block - point No.67 to point No.100
(c)
Points 1, 34 and 67 of the roster shall be earmarked reserved for
persons with disabilities — one point for each of the three categories
of disabilities. The head of the establishment shall decide the
categories of disabilities for which the points 1, 34 and 67 will be
reserved keeping in view all relevant facts.
(d) All the
vacancies in Group C posts falling in direct recruitment quota arising
in the establishment shall be entered in the relevant roster register.
If the post falling at point no. 1 is not identified for the disabled or
the head of the establishment considers it desirable not to fill it up
by a disabled person or it is not possible to fill up that post by the
disabled for any other reason, one of the vacancies falling at any of
the points from 2 to 33 shall be treated as reserved for the disabled
and filled as such, Likewise a vacancy falling at any of the points from
34 to 66 or from 67 to 100 shall be filled by the disabled. The purpose
of keeping points 1, 34 and 67 as reserved is to fill up the first
available suitable vacancy from 1 to 33, first available suitable
vacancy from 34 to 66 and first available suitable vacancy from 67 to
100 by persons with disabilities.
(e) There is a possibility that
none of the vacancies from 1 to 33 is suitable for any category of the
disabled. In that case two vacancies from 34 to 66 shall be filled as
reserved for persons with disabilities. If the vacancies from 34 to 66
are also not suitable for any category, three vacancies shall be filled
as reserved from the third block containing points from 67 to 100. This
means that if no vacancy can be reserved in a particular block, it shall
be carried into the next block.
(f) After all the 100 points of the roster are covered, a fresh cycle of 100 points shall start.
(g)
If the number of vacancies in a year is such as to cover only one block
or two, discretion as to which category of the disabled should be
accommodated first shall vest in the head of the establishment, who
shall decide on the basis of the nature of the post, the level of
representation of the specific disabled category in the concerned
grade/post etc
(h) A separate roster shall be maintained for
group C posts filled by promotion and procedure as explained above shall
be followed for giving reservation to persons with disabilities.
Likewise two separate rosters shall be maintained for Group D posts, one
fo the posts filled by direct recruitment and another for posts filled
by promotion.
(i) Reservation in group A and group B posts is
determined on the basis of vacancies in the identified posts only.
Separate rosters for Group A posts and Group B posts in the
establishment shall be maintained. In the rosters maintained for Group A
and Group B posts, all vacancies of direct recruitment arising in
identified posts shall be entered and reservation shall be effected the
same way as explained above.
16. INTER SE EXCHANGE- AND CARRY FORWARD OF RESERVATION IN CASE OF DIRECT RECRUITMENT:(a)
Reservation for each of the three categories of persons with
disabilities shall be made separately, But if the nature of vacancies in
an establishment is such that a person of a specific category of
disability cannot be employed, the vacancies may be interchanged among
the three categories with the approval of the Ministry of Social Justice
& Empowerment and reservation may be determined and vacancies
filled accordingly.
(b) If any vacancy reserved for any category
of disability cannot be filled due to non-availability of a suitable
person with that disability or, for any other sufficient reason, such
vacancy shall not be filled and shall be carried forward as a 'backlog
reserved vacancy' to the subsequent recruitment year.
(c ) In the
subsequent recruitment year the 'backlog reserved vacancy' shall be
treated as reserved for the category of disability for which it was kept
reserved in the initial year of recruitment. However, if a suitable
person with that disability is not available, it may be filled by
interchange, among the three categories of disabilities. In case no
suitable person with disability is available for filling up the post in
the subsequent year also, the employer may fill up the vacancy by
appointment of a person other than a person with disability. If the
vacancy is filled by a person with disability of the category for which
it was reserved or by a person of other category of disability by inter
se exchange in the subsequent recruitment year, it will be treated to
have been filled by reservation. But if the vacancy is filled by a
person other than a person with disability in the subsequent recruitment
year, reservation shall be carried forward for a further period upto
two recruitment years whereafter the reservation shall lapse. In these
two subsequent years, if situation so arises, the procedure for filling
up the reserved vacancy shall be the same as followed in the first
subsequent recruitment year.
17. In order to ensure that cases of
lapse of reservation are kept to the minimum, any recruitment of the
disabled candidates shall first be counted against the additional quota
brought forward from previous years, if any, in their chronological
order. If candidates are not available for all the vacancies,
the
older carried forward reservation would be filled first and the
relatively later carried forward reservation would be further carried
forward.
18. CONSIDERATION ZONE, INTERSE EXCHANGE AND CARRY FORWARD OF RESERVATION IN CASE OF PROMOTION :(a)
While filling up the reserved vacancies by promotion by selection, the
disabled candidates who are within the normal zone of consideration
shall be considered for promotion. Where adequate number of disabled
candidates of the appropriate category of handicap are not available
within the normal zone, the zone of consideration may be extended to
five times the number of vacancies and the persons with disabilities
falling within the extended zone may be considered. In the event of non
availability of candidates even in the extended zone, the reservation
can be exchanged so that post can be filled by a person with other
category of disability, if possible. If it is not possible to fill up
the post by reservation, the post may be filled by a person other than a
person with disability and the reservation shall be carried forward for
upto three subsequent recruitment years, whereafter it shall lapse.
(b)
In posts filled by promotion by non-selection, the eligible candidates
with disabilities shall be considered for promotion against the reserved
vacancies and in case no eligible candidate of the appropriate category
of disability is available, the vacancy can be exchanged with other
categories of disabilities identified for it. If it is not possible to
fill up the post by reservation even by exchange, the reservation shall
be carried forward for upto three subsequent recruitment years
whereafter it shall lapse.
19. HORIZONTALITY OF RESERVATION FOR
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: Reservation for backward classes of citizens
(SCs, STs and OBCs) is called vertical reservation and the reservation
for categories such as persons with disabilities and ex-servicemen is
called horizontal reservation. Horizontal reservation cuts across
vertical reservation (in what is called inter-locking reservation) and
persons selected against the quota for persons with disabilities have to
be placed in the appropriate category viz. SC/ST/OBC/General candidates
depending upon the category to which they belong in the roster meant
for reservation of SCs/STs/OBCs. To illustrate, if in a given year there
are two vacancies reserved for the persons with disabilities and out of
two persons with disabilities appointed, one belongs to a Scheduled
Caste and the other to general category then the disabled SC candidate
shall be adjusted against the SC point in the reservation roster and the
general candidate against unreserved point in the relevant reservation
roster. In case none of the vacancies falls on point reserved for the
SCs, the disabled candidate belonging
to SC shall be adjusted in future against the next available vacancy reserved for SCs.
20.
Since the persons with disabilities have to be placed in the
appropriate category viz. SC/ST/OBC/ General in the roster meant for
reservation of SCs/STs/OBCs, the application form for the post should
require the candidates applying under the quota reserved for persons
with disabilities to indicate whether they belong to SC/ST/OBC or
General category.
21. RELAXATION IN AGE LIMIT :(i)
Upper age limit for persons with disabilities shall be relaxable (a) by
ten years (15 years for SCs/STs and 13 years for OBCs) in case of
direct recruitment to Group 'C' and Group 'D' posts; (b) by 5 years (10
years for SCs/STs and 8 years for OBCs) in case of direct recruitment to
Group 'A' and Group 'B' posts where recruitment is made otherwise than
through open competitive examination; and (c) by 10 years (15 years for
SCs/STs and 13 years for OBCs) in case of direct recruitment to Group A
and Group B posts through open competitive examination.
(ii)
Relaxation in age limit shall be applicable irrespective of the fact
whether the post is reserved or not, provided the post is identified
suitable for persons with disabilities.
22. RELAXATION OF STANDARD OF SUITABILITY:
If sufficient number of persons with disabilities are not available on
the basis of the general standard to fill all the vacancies reserved for
them, candidates belonging to this category may be selected on relaxed
standard to fill up the remaining vacancies reserved for them provided
they are not found unfit for such post or posts. Thus, to the extent the
number of vacancies reserved for persons with disabilities cannot be
filled on the basis of general standards, candidates belonging to this
category may be taken by relaxing the standards to make up the
deficiency in the reserved quota subject to the fitness of these
candidates for appointment to the post / posts in question.
23. MEDICAL EXAMINATION:
As per Rule 10 of the Fundamental Rules, every new entrant to
Government Service on initial appointment is required to produce a
medical certificate of fitness issued by a competent authority. In case
of medical examination of a person with disability for appointment to a
post identified as suitable to be held by a person suffering from a
particular kind of disability, the concerned Medical Officer or Board
shall be informed beforehand that the post is identified suitable to be
held by persons with disability of the relevant category and the
candidate shall then be examined medically keeping this fact in view.
24. EXEMPTION FROM PAYMENT OF EXAMINATION FEE AND APPLICATION FEE:
Persons with disabilities shall be exempt from payment of application
fee and examination fee, prescribed in respect of competitive
examinations held by the Staff Selection Commission, the Union Public
Service Commission etc for recruitment to various posts. This exemption
shall be available only to such persons who would otherwise be eligible
for appointment to the post on the basis of standards of medical fitness
prescribed for that post (including any concession specifically
extended to the disabled persons) and who enclose with the application
form, necessary certificate from a competent authority in support of
their claim of disability.
25. NOTICE OF VACANCIES :
In order to ensure that persons with disabilities get a fair
opportunity in consideration for appointment to an identified post, the
following points shall be kept in view while sending the requisition
notice to the Employment Exchange, the SSC, the UPSC etc. and while
advertising the vacancies:-
(i) Number of vacancies reserved for
SCs/STs/OBCs/Ex-Servicemen/ Persons suffering from Blindness or Low
Vision/Persons suffering from Hearing Impairment/Persons suffering from
Locomotor Disability or Cerebral Palsy should be indicated clearly.
(ii)
In case of vacancies in posts identified suitable to be held by persons
with disability, it shall be indicated that the post is identified for
persons with disabilities suffering from blindness or low vision;
hearing impairment; and/or locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, as
the case may be, and that the persons with disabilities belonging to the
category/categories for which the post is identified shall be allowed
to apply even if no vacancies are reserved for them. Such candidates
will be considered for selection for appointment to the post by general
standards of merit.
(iii) In case of vacancies in posts
identified suitable for persons with disabilities, irrespective of
whether any vacancies are reserved or
(iv) not, the categories
of disabilities viz blindness or low vision, hearing impairment and
locomotor disability or cerebral palsy, for which the
post is
identified suitable alongwith functional classification and physical
requirements for performing the duties attached to the post shall be
indicated clearly.
(v) It shall also be indicated that persons
suffering from not less than 40% of the relevant disability shall alone
be eligible for the benefit of reservation.
26. CERTIFICATE BY REQUISITIONING AUTHORITY :
In order to ensure proper implementation of the provisions of
reservation for persons with disabilities, the requisitioning authority
while sending the requisition to the UPSC, SSC etc. for filling up of
posts shall furnish the following certificate to the recruiting agency:-
"It
is certified that the requirements of the Persons with Disabilities
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation)
Act, 1995 and the policy relating to reservation for persons with
disabilities has been taken care of while sending this requisition. The
vacancies reported in this requisition fall at points no. of cycle no.
of 100 point reservation roster out of which number of vacancies are
reserved for persons with disabilities."
27. ANNUAL REPORTS REGARDING REPRESENTATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES :(i)
Soon after the first of January of every year, each appointing
authority shall send to its administrative Ministry/Department:-
(a)
PWD Report-I in the prescribed proforma (Annexure III) showing the
total number of employees, total number of employees in the posts which
have been identified suitable for persons with disabilities and number
of employees suffering from blindness or low vision,
hearing impairment, and locomotor disability or cerebral palsy as on the 1g January of the year, and
(b)
PWD Report-II in the prescribed proforma (Annexure IV) showing the
number of vacancies reserved for persons suffering from blindness or low
vision, hearing impairment, and locomotor disability or cerebral palsy
and number of such persons actually appointed during the preceding
calendar year.
(ii) The administrative Ministry/Department shall
scrutinize the information received from all appointing authorities
under it and send consolidated PWD Report-I and PWD Report- II in
prescribed proformae in respect of the Ministry/Department including
information in respect of all attached and subordinate offices under its
control to the Department of Personnel and Training by the 31 st March
of each year.
(iii) The following points may be kept in view while sending the reports to the Department of Personnel & Training:-
(a)
The reports sent to the DOPT should not include information in respect
of public sector undertakings, statutory, semi-Government and autonomous
bodies. Statutory, semi-Government and autonomous bodies shall furnish
consolidated information in the prescribed proforma to the
administrative Ministry/Department concerned who may scrutinize, monitor
and maintain it at their own level. The Department of Public
Enterprises may collect similar information in respect of all public
sector undertakings.
(b) The attached/subordinate offices shall
send information to their administrative Ministry/Department only and
shaft not send it direct to this Department.
(c) The figures in
respect of persons with disabilities shall include persons appointed by
reservation as well as appointed otherwise.
(d) The PWD Report I
relates to persons and not to posts. Therefore, while furnishing this
report the posts vacant etc. should not be taken into account. In this
report persons on deputation should be included in the establishment of
the borrowing Ministry/Department/Office and not in the parent
establishment. Persons permanent in one grade but officiating or holding
temporary appointment in the higher grade shall be included in the
figures relating to the Class of service to which the higher grade
belongs.
28. LIAISON OFFICER FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIESLiaison
Officers appointed to look after reservation matters for SCs/STs shall
also work as Liaison Officers for reservation matters relating to
persons with disabilities and shall ensure compliance of these
instructions.
29. All the Ministries/Departments are requested to
bring the above instructions to the notice of all appointing
authorities under their control.
(K.G. Verma)
Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India
Source : www.persmin.gov.in
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