Provisions relating to Persons with Disability (PwD)
- As per Section 2(s) of the RPwD Act, “Persons with Disability (PwD)” means a person with long term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment which, in interaction with barriers, hinders his full and effective participation in society equally with others.
- According to Section 2(r) of the RPwD Act, 2016, “persons with benchmark disabilities” means a person with not less than forty percent (40%) of a specified disability where specified disability has not been defined in measurable terms and includes a person with disability where specified disability has been defined in measurable terms, as certified by the certifying authority.
Facilities for PwD Candidates for Examinations
As per the Guidelines issued by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan) under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment issued from time to time on the subject: “Written Examination for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities”, a candidate with one of the benchmark disabilities [as defined in Section 2(r) of RPwD Act, 2016], holding a Disability Certificate in the format prescribed in Annexure-IV, is entitled to the following facilities:
- The facility of Scribe, in case he/she has a physical limitation, and a scribe is essential to write the Examination on his/her behalf, being so certified in the aforesaid format by a CMO/Civil Surgeon/ Medical Superintendent of a Govt. Health Care Institution. However, as a measure of caution and due to the prevailing circumstances of COVID-19 Pandemic, such candidate is required to bring his/her own Scribe along with an undertaking in the format given at Annexure-V (given below)
- Compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour for Examination would be provided to all candidates with benchmark disability (PwD candidates), whether such candidate availing the facility of Scribe or not.
- The Candidate cannot change the category or sub-category (PwD status) after the submission of the Online Application Form, and in any case, no change will be entertained by NTA after the declaration of NTA Scores. Therefore, the candidates are advised to fill the category / sub-category column very carefully.