UPSC Seeks Details from 2008 Visually-Impaired Candidates After SC Order

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 3rd Jan. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has sought details from two visually-impaired candidates who had appeared for the civil services examination over 15 years ago, in order to consider them for appointment. This step comes after a Supreme Court ruling in July 2024, which directed that 11 candidates be appointed against backlog vacancies reserved for Persons with Disabilities (PWD).

According to an official UPSC statement, the process is being carried out as per the Supreme Court’s judgment in Civil Appeal No. 3303/2015 (Union of India v. Pankaj Srivastava), dated July 8, 2024. However, the documents and dossiers of two candidates, Hira Lal Nag and Anil Kumar Singh, are unavailable with the UPSC. The Commission has therefore requested the candidates to provide necessary details to reconstruct their dossiers.

Both Nag and Singh, who belong to the Other Backward Class (OBC) and Visually Impaired (VI) category, had appeared for the Civil Services Examination in 2008. The UPSC has given them seven days to contact the Commission with the relevant details. If no response is received within this period, it will be assumed that the candidates are no longer interested in being considered for appointment, as per the apex court’s directive.

The Supreme Court had previously criticized the Centre for its failure to implement provisions under the Persons with Disabilities Act and ordered the appointment of Pankaj Kumar Srivastava, a 100% visually impaired candidate, along with 10 others who were ranked higher than him in the merit list. These candidates, all from the visually impaired category, will now be considered for appointment to the available backlog vacancies for PWD candidates.

The Civil Services Examination is conducted annually by the UPSC for the selection of officers in prestigious services like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.