Disabled misses M.Phil test at DU: Delhi HC issues notice against Railways

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a suo moto notice against the Railways in connection with an incident wherein a disabled student missed his exam due to lack of proper access for disabled passengers to train coaches.

The court issued a notice and sought a reply from the Ministry of Railways, the North-Eastern Railways and the University of Delhi.

The court also issued directions to the University of Delhi to examine the possibilities of conducting an examination for Shukla to enable him to secure admission, if he qualifies for the course and session for which he had applied.

As per the report, on July 5, Vaibhav Shukla, a 100 percent visually impaired student had to travel to Delhi to appear in an entrance exam for the M.Phil course being conducted by the University of Delhi.

On arrival of the train at Uttar Pradesh's Unnao railway station, Shukla went to the coach reserved for the disabled passengers which was next to the engine.

The doors were found to be locked, after which his brother and the driver tried to open the gates.

However, the passengers in the compartment refused to come forward to open the door.

Somehow, he attempted to board the Gorakhdham Express train operated by the North-Eastern Railway.

When he managed to reach Delhi, Shukla approached the university and informed the authorities about his plight, but the university informed him that nothing could be done then.

Shukla was thus prevented from participating in the entrance exam.