‘Both hands intact’ rule for MBBS admissions ableist: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday strongly criticised the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) regulations requiring candidates to have “both hands intact” to qualify for medical education, calling it a glorification of “ableism” that contradicts the principles of reasonable accommodation and inclusivity enshrined in the law.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

“It indicates a classification which is overbroad and glorifies ableism. It propagates that persons with typical abilities and with faculties similar to what the majority may have or somehow superior. This is precisely what the directive principles of state policy, the United Nations Convention and the RPwD (Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Act, abhor,” said a bench of justices Bhushan R Gavai and KV Viswanathan.

The court held that barring a candidate at the threshold solely based on physical disability violates constitutional guarantees and international conventions on the rights of persons with disabilities. The judgment stressed that the NMC stipulation of “both hands intact with intact sensations, sufficient strength and range of motion” unjustly bars individuals with upper limb disabilities from pursuing medical education, despite their capability to perform as competent doctors with reasonable accommodations.

The judgment came as the court ruled in favour of an aspiring doctor with a 58% disability, directing his admission to an MBBS course while calling upon NMC to revise its outdated guidelines.