CHENNAI: The Department for the Welfare of Differently Abled Persons has issued a Government Order offering weightage marks in recruitment exams to persons with benchmark disabilities (PwBDs) working temporarily in non-sanctioned Group C and D posts.
The order, however, has drawn sharp criticism as it simultaneously declared two earlier GOs on employment of differently abled as “inoperable” and “redundant.”
Issued on October 31, GO No.24 allows eligible PwBDs to earn additional marks in recruitment exams conducted for the next three years for posts in government departments, local bodies, universities, and public sector undertakings.
The weightage will be based on years of service.
While candidates with 2 to 10 years of service will get 5% marks as additional weightage score, those with 11-15 years will get 8%, and those with over 16 years of experience will get 10% marks with a cap of 30 maximum marks.
These marks will be added while finalising merit lists in written or non-written recruitment processes, it said.
To qualify, candidates must be persons with benchmark disabilities working on consolidated pay, daily wages, or other non-permanent arrangements, and must have completed at least two years of continuous service as on July 24, 2023 and must be still in service.
Those completing two years after the cut-off date will not be considered.The scheme applies only to identified Group C and D posts and not Group A and B posts. The GO said the applicants must be below 60 years of age and possess a valid disability certificate or UDID card.
According to official data, 1,077 PwBDs have been serving temporarily for more than two years and will now be eligible for weightage marks.
Recruiting agencies can allow these marks to be used not only for reserved vacancies but also for general and communal categories, provided candidates get the minimum qualifying marks.
The order, however, triggered a controversy as it declared two earlier orders, GO 151 and GO 20 inoperable and redundant, respectively. As per the new order, “No PwBDs were found working in permanent sanctioned posts and rendered two years of service on consolidated pay as on October 16, 2008,” the condition required for regularisation under GO 151 issued in 2008.
“Regularising 1,077 temporary workers in non-sanctioned posts would violate a Supreme Court order on regularising temporary employees, rendering GO 151 inoperable,” the new order said.
Similarly, GO 20 (2023), which mandated a special recruitment drive for PwBDs, has been termed “redundant,” with the government stating that backlog vacancies are already addressed through provisions under Section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016.
Disability rights activists have strongly objected to the government’s move to declare GO 151 and GO 20 — both issued during the DMK regime — as inoperable or redundant, warning that persons with benchmark disabilities currently working in sanctioned posts on consolidated pay will now lose their only route to regularisation.
They further questioned why the government had issued these orders in the first place if they were ultimately to be rendered inoperable and redundant.
