Editor,
First, I wish to sincerely congratulate the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) for successfully conducting the prestigious civil services examination within the stipulated time. This achievement deserves recognition.
However, I must bring to light an injustice within the persons with disabilities (PwD) category – one that has cost many of us not just opportunities, but fairness itself.
The PwD category places partially low-vision candidates alongside the completely blind, and hard of hearing candidates alongside the completely deaf. This grouping is fundamentally unjust. I speak as someone who is completely deaf and mute – a person for whom hearing aids are of no use because my auditory nerves are dead. I have never heard a single sound in my entire life, and because of this, I cannot speak fluently. I have a permanent silent life.
Hard of hearing candidates, on the other hand, wear hearing aids that allow them to hear almost normally. They converse, interact, and perform like those without hearing impairments. Some can even manage without aids for certain sounds. They require no scribe, no interpreter, no special arrangement – they compete under the PwD tag while enjoying the advantage of hearing and speaking like the rest of the world.
In contrast, my life has been a lifelong battle with complete silence. I have never heard the voice of a teacher, the explanation of a concept, or the tone of encouragement. Every word I learned, every concept I understood, came through self-study, reading, and relentless perseverance. I needed scribes, visual aids, and an extra measure of grit just to stand where others begin.
And yet, in this system, I am made to compete with those who face only a fraction of my challenge. The result is predictable: the final lists are dominated by those with partial impairments, while those of us with complete disabilities remain overlooked.
Even the UPSC recognises the distinction between complete and partial impairments – maintaining separate categories for fairness. Why then does the APPSC ignore this principle? Is it fair that someone whose life has been in total darkness or silence must compete with someone who only experiences it dimly or partially?
This year, after years of preparation, I reached the viva stage – my third major attempt after twice making it to the mains. And as expected, it was the hard of hearing candidates who made it to the final list.
I am not asking for sympathy. I am demanding fairness. True equality in the PwD category can only exist if completely blind and completely deaf candidates are recognised as separate from partially impaired candidates. Without this, the promise of equal opportunity remains hollow.
I urge the commission to review and reform the classification, so that those of us living in complete silence or darkness are given a level playing field. This is not just my fight – it is a matter of justice for every candidate with a complete disability.
A PwD candidate