A little over a decade ago, a bureaucrat was invited as chief guest at the National Consultation on Women with Disabilities at the Constitution Club of India. As often happens, he arrived late, started with the usual “I-am-no-expert” disclaimer, and then began by ridiculing the sector for their rightful demands. He boasted that one could write a policy paper based on his remarks. The hall was stunned.
What has changed since then? IAS candidates with visual disabilities still have to go to court to get postings, yet we have had excellent IAS/IRS officers with various disabilities, like L.Y. Suhas, Ira Singhal, Pranjal Patil, Sukhsohit Singh, and Ummul Kher, who are carving a niche for themselves. However, some of their senior colleagues have raised objections about their acumen and ability to do fieldwork and fulfil administrative responsibilities.
During a Group of Ministers’ meeting called to revise the Disability Bill in 2016, a Union cabinet minister had similarly questioned how those with mental illness could be given job quotas. She was quick to ‘clarify’ herself after a backlash ensued. The former CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant, has also tried to do the same thing unsuccessfully after receiving criticism for his views. However, Telangana IAS officer Smita Sabharwal has continued to show her ignorance about disability issues and continues to insult her colleagues with disabilities.
In February 2020, when Sabharwal chose to work from home during COVID, Dr. R.S. Rautela, an acclaimed anesthesiologist with a physical disability, was managing the deadly COVID crisis at GTB Hospital as the medical director. He was not only battling bureaucratic apathy but also had to see dying patients and manage oxygen tankers stopped at the UP border. Doctors, including those with disabilities, are trained to save lives, not fix a broken system.
Reacting to Sabharwal’s tweet in which she asked ‘would you trust a surgeon with disability’, a netizen posted that he would be uncomfortable if a doctor with disability is handling them. I would ask both what if, unfortunately they land in the emergency operating table? The pan India group of Doctors with Disabilities: Agents of Change has stalwarts like plastic surgeon Dr Mukesh Sharma, Urologist Dr Sujith Josh, Hematologist Dr Suresh Hanagavadi, former Director of National TB Institute, Dr Sangeeta Sharma, super-specialists like Dr Vishwanath and Dr Bhamare to name a few.
Also read: Rights Over Ruses: Confronting Fake Disability Certificates
Sabharwal boasted of her 24 years of experience to an MP to justify her comments but has no clue that Kerala has Dr RS Sindhu who has been working as a gastro surgeon for the past 24 years, leading the liver transplantation teams as HOD. She has polio in both legs and uses callipers and crutches. Netizens often fail to see beyond figures like Padamshri Dr Suresh Advani because many of us ordinary physicians with disabilities spend most of our time battling daily ableism and attitudinal barriers.
The former CEO of NITI Aayog also joined in taking a jibe over disability quotas but did little to increase the percentage of India’s GDP that is spent on health, which is even less than that of Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar (as in 2021), and none of them are superpowers. He also tweeted about reviewing the transgender quota when, as a senior public servant, he should have been creating a framework to implement the Supreme Court’s NALSA judgement on affirmative action for this community. When he had the opportunity as G20 Sherpa, he failed to bring anything substantial in the Delhi Declaration on disability and the trans community.
The stoic silence among the LGBTQIA+ community and bureaucrats with disabilities has shown that cross-movement solidarity remains a buzzword, and people with ableist beliefs at the helm of affairs continue to go unchallenged. No wonder our fight for amending Article 15 of the Constitution on non-discrimination based on disability and sexual orientation remains a distant thought.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Department of Personnel and Training are both busy charting the first 100 days of achievement for the new government. Would any of them be brave enough to restore our faith in “sabka saath sabka vikas, sabka vishwas” by acting under Rule 7 of the All India Services Conduct Rules, 1968, to punish such erring officers? The rule says:
No member of the Service shall, over any public media, make any statement of fact or opinion which has the effect of an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the Central government) as well as the Amendment Rules, 2014,
The recent episodes confirm why the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration has failed to produce ‘People’s Officers’ who empathise with citizens, respect the Constitution, and support the government’s resolve towards an Incredible India free of ableism. We need allies, not adversaries, within the system.
Satendra Singh teaches at University College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, and is a disability rights activist. Views are personal