MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the state government and the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking a direction to the commission to allow PwD candidates (Persons with Disability) to choose their own scribe, reader or lab assistant for TNPSC examinations.
The litigant, B Velmurugan, also sought the creation of a panel of trained scribes at district, division and state level and, a provision for getting magnifiers and Braille watches, among others during the examinations.
Velmurugan, a person with 100% visual impairment, claimed in his petition that the scribes provided by the commission often lack training, leading to risk of misinterpretation and errors.
The candidates are also not allowed to meet the scribes two days in advance which, if permitted, could help them ascertain whether the scribe would suit them or not, he further said. The scribe is also not given adequate time to understand the candidate's reading and response speed, he added.
Velmurugan also stated that the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, provides PwD candidates the right to seek such reasonable adjustments during examinations and even the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) accommodates similar requests. Saying that the TNPSC is likely to issue notification for Group I examinations next month, he sought the above directions.
A bench of Justices J Nisha Banu and S Srimathy directed the government counsel to get instructions from the authorities concerned and adjourned the case for a week.