The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has sought details from two visually challenged candidates who took the civil services exam 15 years ago so that they can be considered for appointment.The move follows an order of the Supreme Court, which in July last year directed that 11 candidates be considered for appointment against backlog vacancies for persons with disabilities (PWD) candidates, according to an official statement issued on Friday.

The statement issued by the UPSC said, "As per the directions given by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in its judgment dated 08.07.2024 in Civil Appeal No. 3303/2015 (UPSC vs Pankaj Shrivastava), the implementation exercise is to be done on the basis of the details mentioned in the application form of the candidate." However, the dossiers containing the documents and details of the two candidates "are not available with the UPSC."

UPSC does not have the data

"It has become necessary to communicate with the candidate so as to secure relevant details and reconstruct the dossier," the statement said. The UPSC has sought detailed information about Heera Lal Nag and Anil Kumar Singh (OBC community and visually impaired category), both of whom had taken the civil services exam 2008. Candidates who are "beneficiary" of the apex court's verdict have been asked to immediately contact the commission within seven days, so that the UPSC and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) can take necessary steps in compliance.

You will have to reply within seven days

The statement said that if there is no response within seven days, "it may be presumed that these candidates are no longer willing to be considered for allocation of services on the basis of Civil Services Examination (CSE)-2008 in pursuance of the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dated 08.07.2024." The apex court in its order had directed the appointment of a 100 per cent visually impaired candidate (Pankaj Kumar Srivastava) and criticised the Centre for failing to implement the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities Act.

11 candidates can get the job

The apex court had also directed that Srivastava and 10 other candidates belonging to the visually impaired category, who were ranked above Srivastava in the merit list of CSE-2008, be considered for appointment against the backlog vacancies for PWD candidates.