New Delhi, May 9
In a major victory for Chandigarh girl Sunita Dogra and many other aspiring UPSC candidates like her, who are suffering from the upper-arm disability, the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disability (CCPD) has asked the UPSC to allow Sunita and all other cases with similar disability “scribes of their choice as per norms” for the May 14 Civil Services Examination (preliminary).

In a directive sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the CCPD also decided to allow Sunita an extra time of 10 minutes per hour during the examination.

The decision to allow Sunita a writer of her choice as per the UPSC norms was taken late last evening in a hearing for her case and the same has now been conveyed to the DoPT and the UPSC. “The proceedings of the case have been forwarded to the UPSC and the DoPT. Sunita has been sent a fax and informed of the directive,” an official said.

He said Sunita had also been sent a copy of the admit card for the scribe, which she would now have to fill and return to the UPSC to appear in the examination next Sunday. There is a system in place to ensure that the facility is not misused and as per the UPSC formula for such cases, only that “scribe” is allowed who is a year junior in professional qualifications to the candidate and completely unrelated to the candidate.