Delhi High Court pulls up Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan for not providing reservation to hearing impaired people in teaching jobs

The Delhi High Court on Friday criticised the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) for excluding the deaf and 'hard of hearing' persons from the reservation in the recruitment process for teaching posts..A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula observed that KVS had ignored the statute and the latest notification issued by the Central government while issuing the advertisement for recruitment of teachers in December 2022.“I don’t understand why we are hostile towards these people. I never thought Kendirya Vidyalayas would be doing all this. I feel sorry for the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan,” Justice Sharma remarked..Chief Justice Sharma also said that he was pained more because he was a product of a Kendriya Vidyalaya.“That day I also told you if I am deciding something against Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to me because I am a product of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan”.The Court made the observations while reserving its decision on a petition filed by an organization named National Association of the Deaf (NAD) against the advertisement, and a related suo motu public interest litigation on the issue. .After it was informed that recruitments have taken place after the advertisement, the Court said that it would tell the KVS to clear the backlog in respect of the persons with disability.“We will direct them to issue a fresh advertisement in respect of backlog vacancies…,” it said.The counsel representing the KVS submitted that a committee constituted by it on the issue of reservation had recommended against giving teaching jobs to a certain category of persons with disabilities. However, the Court said that as no exemption from applying the disability quota had been given to KVS by the Centre, it could not have done so. “You can’t feel whatever you feel like doing,” it said, adding, “You are nobody to judge them. You are nobody. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has to identify posts. It is not your job”..The Court added that KVS had followed "some internal committee” which was contrary to the provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 as well as the notification issued by the Centre. “You said this person is not meant for this person. You are nobody (to say so),” the Court told the KVS..During the hearing, Justice Sharma also remarked that KVS should use some other word for “blind” in advertisements.However, advocate Sanchita Ain, representing the petitioner organization, argued that they as a community do not like terms like “differently abled” or “specially abled”. When Justice Sharma said one can write “specially-abled”, Ain said, “We find it patronizing”.She explained that deaf persons recognize themselves as deaf because that is the closest to their experience. “Someone who can’t hear at all is deaf, doesn’t mean that the person cannot interact or communicate, that is not how we look at ourselves. We refuse to be called dumb or mute because we can use signs and communicate and talk. In order to listen, we need to have the content communicated in the same language we understand, that is sign language,” Ain said.In response, Justice Sharma said, “First time I am hearing this…”