Candidates with disability can use scribe in exams: SC

The Supreme Court has allowed all disabled candidates to take scribes to write their examinations even if they didn’t meet the benchmark disability criteria of 40 per cent — a norm followed hitherto.

A Bench ruled that the artificial distinction and bifurcation drawn between candidates with disabilities and those with benchmark disabilities (40 per cent disabled or more) needed to be diminished.

The guidelines issued by the Centre, following the top court’s directions, must be enforced by extending the benefits for candidates with benchmark disabilities to all candidates with disabilities while writing their examinations, without any hindrance, the top court said.

It asked the examination bodies to implement accessibility measures to ensure that the exam centres were physically accessible and equipped to accommodate disabled candidates and ensure strict compliance of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, to prevent discrimination.