The visually-impared are facing discrimination during appointment at the hands of some officers in the government.
Some unit officers are, despite government orders, allegedly reluctant to appoint in their departments visually-impaired people who were recruited last year during the Group IV services special drive for differently-abled persons.
The principal secretary of the personnel and administrative reforms, Kutralingam, has given instructions to the unit officers to appoint the candidates who were recruited through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission, following complaints made by some of the candidates to the commission.
Kutralingam said that according to the general rules for the Tamil Nadu state and subordinate services, in case of direct recruitment, 1 per cent of each such category should be reserved for the disabled persons and the appointment should be made in the order of rotation.
The principal secretary also pointed out that the appointing authorities in the departments concerned should strictly follow the rule of reservation and appoint the candidates immediately.
“This is a classic example of how the differently abled are shunned in several sectors of our society, despite the government providing them with opportunities,” said Namburajan, the state secretary of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of all Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers.
Namburajan requested the government to initiate action against those who make differently-abled persons run from pillar to post to be able to benefit from the reservation.