HC grants extra hour to disabled girl to write exams

But Arti Kumar, daughter of a retired Indian Air Force (IAF) official, suffers from cerebral palsy. She is spastic, finds it difficult to speak and has been rated as 65 per cent disabled by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

When Kumar speaks ordinarily, the speech is not clear. When she speaks fast, it is very difficult for most people to understand. Further, she uses both hands to write, with the right hand holding a pen and giving support to the left.

Arti’s father R K Sharma as well as the principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Pitampura contended that she should be granted an extra hour to complete her exam papers instead of the half-hour that the rules specify. The board exams are scheduled for March 3.

Kumar’s counsel Rekha Palli said the government must enable and empower people with disabilities to live as independently as possible but she is being deprived of her right to effectively appear in the exams without anybody’s aid.

Though the CBSE chairman interviewed Kumar some days ago, the controller of exams declined to give her permission as the existing rules do not provide for it.

Justice K Ramamoorthy ruled that she can take an extra hour to complete her papers.