NEW DELHI: It will be easier for the acid attack victims to get enrolled in various Delhi University courses from the next academic session.
The university would be the first in the country to implement the revised Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which has expanded the ambit of disabilities and has raised the reservation from 3 per cent to 5 per cent.
The University Grants Commission last month had issued a notification asking all the Central universities to implement the revised Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, which had included survivors of acid attacks.
“Following the UGC notification, we are planning to implement the revised Act. Also, this time we are giving more space to the disabled students in all fields, including hostel admissions,” said Anil K Aneja, Nodal Officer of the Equal Opportunity Cell, Delhi University.
Welcoming the step, Delhi-based acid attack survivor Lakshmi Aggarwal said, “This will help create more awareness among people about acid attack victims. Most of the times, these victims feel alienated, and reluctance on our part to accept them further increases their plight. Reservation in universities such as DU is very supporting for us.”
According to the data compiled by the Acid Survivors Foundation India, a Delhi-based NGO, 96 such cases have been reported in Delhi between 2011 and 2015.
As per the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, all government institutions of higher education and other higher education institutions getting government aid shall reserve not less than 5 per cent seats for persons with benchmark disabilities. Acid attack survivors are considered under benchmark disabilities along with other disabilities such as dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, slow learners, and so on.