The Delhi High Court today sought responses of the Centre and the city government on a PIL challenging the Lt Governor's nursery admission guidelines to the extent that it clubs disabled children with kids from the economically weaker groups.
A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and R V Easwar asked the Centre to indicate in its reply the steps taken, including the funding mechanism, to grant the benefits provided under the Persons with Disabilities Act.
"Issue notice. The respondents shall file their counter affidavits within a week and the Centre's affidavit shall indicate the steps taken pursuant to the Disabilities Act in particular the funding mechanism provided under it and the categorisation of various disabilities for the purpose of granting its benefit," the court said.
The petition by Pramod Arora, father of a child with special needs, alleges the LG's admission guidelines "grossly limits the opportunity of differently-abled children to secure admission in schools catering to special educational needs of such children".
"The order of the Lt Governor with respect to disabled children is passed on the basis of changes incorporated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2012 that has amended the RTE Act of 2009 to include 'a child with disability' in the category of disadvantaged children," senior advocate Kirti Uppal, appearing for the petitioner, argued.
"The said amendment to the RTE Act is unconstitutional inasmuch as it has curtailed the special provisions of the Disabilities Act, 1995, by which disabled children have an established right to access to education as they have special needs and may not be at par to compete with children of normal cognitive ability.
"The amendment of 2012 to the RTE Act, 2009, instead of strengthening this right and making the rights fundamental for disabled children, has put them at a far more disadvantaged position inasmuch as they are now subject to a lottery based selection," the petition, filed through advocate Kiran Kalra and Anshumaan Sahni, states.
