Centre exempts police forces from disability reservation rule, rights groups cry foul

The Social Justice Ministry is supposed to safeguard the rights of the differently abled, say activists

The Centre has exempted posts under the Indian Police Service (IPS) from the mandated 4% reservation for persons with disabilities (PwD) in government jobs, a move that rights groups say goes against the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. On Wednesday, the Social Justice Ministry issued a notification saying that Section 34 of the RPD Act, which provides for 4% reservation in jobs for PwD in government establishments, would not apply to all categories of posts of IPS, the Indian Railway Protection Force Service and police forces of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. At the same time, the Ministry issued another notification on Wednesday making a distinction between combat and non-combat roles in the security forces. The Ministry exempted all combat posts in the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Central Industrial Security Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Sashastra Seema Bal and the Assam Rifles from the non-discrimination and reservation provisions of the RPD Act.