The National Medical Commission is reviewing the disability guidelines for admission to medicine courses to shift the emphasis to whether individuals can perform the required competencies rather than what percentage of disability they have. This comes after the Supreme Court directed that the guidelines be reviewed to assess what such candidates can do rather than what they can’t.
The committee framing the guidelines has accordingly decided to rename Disability Assessment Boards as Ability Assessment Boards. The minutes of the meeting of the committee framing the new guidelines submitted in court revealed that it would be attempting “to define which medical competencies are essential and non-negotiable for safe medical practice”.
Over the years, several candidates with disability have successfully challenged the NMC’s disability guidelines, based on which they were barred from joining for an MBBS course after clearing the national entrance examination. In the case of one such candidate, who reached the Supreme Court seeking justice, the court had ordered a review of the guidelines which shall “eschew from a benchmark model to test the functional competence of medical aspirants with disability” in keeping with “contemporary advancements in disability justice”.
“From promoting self-rejection of disabled medical aspirants to assuming that their accommodations would lower the standard of competence and would regardless be fruitless – the guidelines have charted their way into disrepute,” stated Supreme Court in its October 2024 order.