Petitioner said the SSC online portal is inaccessible, and the rights of visually impaired people are being infringed upon
The Delhi High Court directed the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) to make it easier for visually impaired candidates to apply for the SSC online exam after a plea was submitted on their behalf. The court made this directive in a Thursday hearing. A division bench headed by Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted the problems blind candidates encounter when they are asked to upload live photographs through face recognition technology.
Petitioner Santosh Kumar Rungta of the National Federation of the Blind said the SSC online portal is inaccessible and the rights of visually impaired people are being infringed upon. He noted that recruitment competitive exams such as the Combined Graduate Level (CGL), Combined Higher Secondary Level (CHSL), and Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) examinations for 2025 ask candidates to upload a live photo through facial recognition. This is typically impossible for blind applicants to accomplish on their own.
The petition took pains to point out that such applicants are unduly handicapped, not due to their intellectual capacity but due to a system that is inconsiderate of their needs. In aid of his plea, the petitioner filed 60 emails from blind applicants whose attempts at applying were thwarted by technical problems.
Ascertaining the gravity of the situation, the court ordered SSC authorities to probe these grievances in-depth and take necessary action to redress them. The court also ordered a one-on-one meeting between SSC and the petitioner to resolve the issues at length.
"Genuine grievances here. SSC should be more thoughtful in the future," said the bench. They wanted the Commission to evolve a vision for the long term towards inclusivity. The judges added that alteration in the system would take time but current grievances have to be addressed in a hurry.
The case has a hearing on November 12. By that date, the court wants the SSC to have put in place definite steps to ensure the application portal is accessible to all, particularly the visually impaired candidates.
