Chennai: Despite the enhancement of reservation in government jobs for the disabled from 3 to 4 per cent in The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Bill - 2016, the Tamil Nadu Commissionerate of Municipal Administration did not provide any reservation for the disabled in the notification it issue-d on Monday for the filling up of 110 Sanitary Inspector posts in the municipal corporations.
“Though the post of sanitary inspector has already been identified by both central and state governments, as suitable for disabled and a number of disabled people are already performing in these posts in Tamil Nadu, the opportunity has been withdrawn now. At least four of 110 vacancies must be allotted for Persons with Disability (PwD)”, said S Namburajan, state general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers (TARATDAC).
Several associations urged the State Commissioner for the Differently Abled to take action against the municipal commissioner as per law, which states that any person who contravenes any of the provisions of RPWD act 2016, or of any rule made shall for the first contravention be punishable with fine which may extend to '10,000. However, the commissioner for disabled said that he can only initiate action on the issue, but does not have the powers to penalise anybody.
“Initially, of the 1,720 common government posts, which anybody could serve in, only 170 were allotted to the disabled. After a major argument, the Supreme Court ruled that there should be 3 per cent reservation for PwD in both central and state government jobs. The reservation was enhanced to 4 per cent in 2016, however poor enforcement has curbed its purpose”, rued P Simmachandran, president, Federation of TN Differenty Abled Association.
PwD also pointed that the Supreme Court in its order in 2013, asked the government to calculate the backlog of vacancies from 1995 to 102 and allot them to the disabled within three months. However, no action has been taken yet and according to the sources from the department, at least 4,000 such posts are vacant.
