Disabled UPSC candidate denied service despite clearing exam four times

A UPSC candidate with muscular dystrophy has been denied any service despite having cleared the examination four times, reported TOI. This comes amid the controversy over IAS officer Puja Khedkar allegedly misusing the disability quota.

IIT Roorkee graduate Kartik Kansal, who has been using a wheelchair since he was 14 years old, was selected for the civil services four times in 2019 (rank 813), 2021 (271), 2022 (784) and 2023 (829). Kansal is currently a scientist in Isro, a post for which he was selected through all-India central recruitment.

In 2021, he ranked 271 even without a disability quota and should have got IAS as ranks 272 and 273 got IAS in that year. However, in 2021, muscular dystrophy was not included in the list of conditions in functional classification eligible for IAS.



Muscular dystrophy was included in the list for Indian Revenue Service (income Tax) Group A and Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Excise), which were his second and third choices.

In 2019, Kansal got 813 rank and should have gotten into the service as there were 15 vacancies for locomotor disability and only 14 were filled. In 2021, there were seven vacancies in the locomotor disability category and only four were filled. He ranked number one in the category.

The medical board in AIIMS has certified that he had muscular weakness and both his arms and legs were affected by muscular dystrophy. Surprisingly, for IAS, persons with both arms and legs affected are eligible but persons with muscular dystrophy are not.


The board noted that he "can do manipulation with fingers with difficulty and can do mobility with a motorised wheelchair". It also certified that he could see, hear, speak, communicate, read and write. However, he could not stand, walk, pull, push, lift, crouch, bend, kneel, jump or climb. Though his original disability certificate put his level of disability at 60%, the AIIMS medical board deemed it 90%.

Retired IAS officer Sanjeev Gupta highlighted Kansal’s story and tweeted in his support. He said that it was a travesty of justice that Kartik who wrote the civil services without even using a scribe except for help in going to the toilet, and who met all the physical requirements for the job of IAS and IRS was not given any service.


When Kansal sought the reason for rejection through the central portal for grievance redressal, he got a reply stating: "PWBD candidates are allocated service as per the functional classification and physical requirements prescribed by different cadre controlling authorities. There were no matching services at your turn as per your rank."


"Why should functional classifications and physical requirements for similar nature of work vary across services? If cerebral palsy is allowed for IAS, why not muscular dystrophy? Thankfully, since 2024 everything has been merged into one. There will be no such errors now. As per the new merged criteria too, Kartik is eligible to get IAS and true justice will be done by giving him IAS if there is a carry forward vacancy from previous years. This will partly undo the injustice meted out to him till now," said Gupta to TOI.

"By joining the civil services, I wanted to prove that even people like me can do it. But I cannot comment further on the issue since it is sub judice," said Kansal, to TOI, whose case pertaining to this issue is pending in Central Administrative Tribunal.