CHENNAI: As counselling for engineering admissions at Anna University for the diferently-abled candidates concluded on Saturday, parents coming from the districts felt it would have been convenient for their wards, had the counselling been conducted in the respective districts. According to them, it’s a struggle for persons with disabilities to come from remote places. This apart, there was no hostel facility for them to stay.
P Kannan, a diffabled candidate from Namakkal, who boarded a bus along with his brother on Friday night and landed in the city at 6 am, had to proceed straight to Anna University even though the counselling session for him was at 5 pm. “We had to come to the university directly since we can’t afford to stay in a lodge or hotel,” he said. While hostel facilities are extended to girls, they are not extended to the diffabled. The varsity should provide the facility at least for orthopaedics, he said.
S Srinivasan, father of S Ramesh, another candidate from Kancheepuram, said, “We started at 3.20 am. It’s hectic for him,” he said and noted that many candidates had skipped the counselling as they could not travel such a long distance.
When contacted, University Registrar S Ganesan said, “If persons with disabilities had requested hostel facilities, then we could have provided them. But we did not get any request.”