Blind medical student's admission cancelled; threatens to commit suicide
Suresh, a 19-year-old medical student with a vision disability, has threatened suicide following the cancellation of his admission by Medical Council of India (MCI). The Karnataka student cannot see beyond a distance of 8cm due to which his admission was withdrawn. The case highlights Karnataka authorities' negligence who gave him admission in a government college in 2016 without taking note of his medical condition.
Suresh explained his struggle to secure the medical seat last year in a five-page letter to the MCI and a "Notice of Death". He wrote despite 70% visual disability, he got 86% in Class 12 examinations. He studied hard for the Karnataka medical college exam and sold ancestral property to pay the first-year fees at a time that coincided with his parents' death.
Karnataka Examination Authority officials allotted Suresh a seat in Raichur Institute of Medical Sciences under disability quota. He secured a 20,000 rank out of 1.5 lakh in the state's 2016 Common Entrance Test (CET) and joined the government college in Jul'16. In Jun'17, MCI canceled his admission as it violated a 2009 regulation, which says students with over 70% disability are ineligible for admission.
