Bombay High Court seeks State response on unfilled posts for persons with disabilities in Maharashtra colleges

The Bombay High Court has issued notice on a plea by Mission Accessibility, an NGO founded and led by visually impaired lawyers, challenging the failure to fill posts earmarked for persons with disabilities in government-run and aided educational institutions across Maharashtra [Mission Accessibility v State of Maharashtra and Ors]..The public interest litigation (PIL) plea challenges the persistent non-implementation of mandatory reservations for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwDs) in such institutions. On May 8, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice M S Karnik sought a response in the matter from the State of Maharashtra through its Department of Higher and Technical Education, the Department for Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, and the Maharashtra State Commissionerate for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD). .The petitioner, represented by its Director, Advocate Rahul Bajaj, has submitted that despite statutory mandates and a 2019 Government Resolution to implement a 4 per cent statutory reservation for persons with disabilities, the authorities have failed to implement the quota in any meaningful way. The petition refers to data from the State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (SCPD) suggesting that 99.99 per cent of seats reserved for people with disabilities remain unfilled in higher and technical education institutions across the State..The petition cites troubling examples to demonstrate the scale and pattern of discrimination against persons with disabilities when it comes to job opportunities. One instance cited was that concerning a candidate with 75 per cent low vision, who despite holding a PhD, UGC-NET, and SET qualifications, was repeatedly denied permanent teaching positions. He was eventually offered only a temporary post on a "Grantable Contract Hour Basis (GCHB)" - a system the petition describes as inherently exclusionary and exploitative. The candidate eventually resigned from the contract position, due to unsuitable working conditions and a lack of reasonable accommodations for a person with low vision, the plea said. It added that such contract roles though facially neutral, indirectly discriminate against persons with disabilities..In another case, a qualified applicant applied for an assistant professor position under the PwD quota and attended the interview, only to later learn through an RTI response that he had been marked absent and misclassified. The interview committee ultimately concluded that "no suitable candidate with a disability was found." According to the petition, this was not an isolated occurrence. “26 candidates with disability ... received this remark,” the plea states. This raised serious questions about the fairness and transparency of the recruitment process..The petition argues that the continued failure of authorities to enforce Section 34(1) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act and the Maharashtra Government Resolution of 2019 amounts to wilful non-compliance and a violation of constitutional rights under Articles 21 and 41 of the Constitution of India. It highlights that despite multiple orders issued by the SCPD to investigate the alleged failure to fill PwD vacancies, there has been no meaningful follow-up by the Departments concerned..The petition seeks several reliefs, including a time-bound special recruitment drive to fill all backlog vacancies for PwDs in higher and technical education institutions. It also prays for the SCPD to be directed to compile and publish vacancy rosters, identify unfilled posts, and propose corrective measures.Additionally, the petitioner also seeks an inquiry into the reasons for the backlog. Interim reliefs such as the immediate disclosure of current vacancy data and institutional rosters, along with the action taken by the SCPD on complaints, have also been sought..Advocate Prithviraj Choudhary, along with advocate Sarah instructed by advocate Sharon Patole appeared for Mission Accessibility. Government Pleader Neha Bhide with Additional Government Pleader OA Chandurkar and Additional Government Pleader GR Raghuwanshi appeared for the State.[Read Order]