New Delhi, Dec 12 (PTI) The Supreme Court today said itwill pass order on a plea seeking to make higher educationinstitutions physically accessible for disabled students.
A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said thatit will pass certain directions on the issue and give sometime for its compliance.
The bench was hearing a plea filed by an organisationDisabled Rights Group in 2006, espousing the cause of adisabled girl who is 100 per cent wheelchair bound.
The girl, who wanted to study law, could not study at theNational Law University and managed to gain admission in aprivate university.
Counsel for the petitioner organisation said the collegeat the private university does not have facilities fordisabled students despite a law which mandates provision offacilities to such students.
"She was made to stay in a hostel in a shared room withtwo other normal students, the bathroom did not have a rampand there was no escort facility in the hostel for suchstudents," he said.
He said Persons for Disabilities(Equal Opportunities,Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995,provided certain guidelines to be followed, which were notadhered to by higher education institutes.
The bench said three per cent reservation provided underthe law is now being followed by the educational institutions.
"There is no tracking or monitoring whether theseinstitutes are providing reservation or not to the disabledstudents. There is no reporting mechanism for the institutes,"the counsel said.
The bench then outlined three issues-- provision ofreservation in higher educational institutions for disabled,all educational institutions being made physically accessiblefor disabled students and the scope of several provisions ofthe Act.
"We will pass order with regard to these issues," thebench said. PTI MNL ABA SJK RKSARC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.