PANJIM: The Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC) has asked the Goa Medical College (GMC), Bambolim authorities to take only passport size photographs and not their full body in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Hearing a complaint filed by Prakash Kundaikar of Taleigao, the GHRC has recommended that the GMC Dean and the Medical Superintendent should ensure that disability certificates and other necessary certificates of persons with disabilities be issued only by accepting passport size photograph showing only the face of the applicant and not the full body photograph, in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017.
In December 2018, Kundaikar had complained to the Commission that the GMC authorities were issuing disability or related certificates to Persons with Disability (PwD), by demanding full body photograph in 4×6” or 3×4”.
The complainant had prayed that only passport size photographs showing the face only be accepted for protecting the dignity of the persons with disabilities.
The Commission immediately sought replies from the GMC Dean and the Medical Superintendent. It also allowed one Vishant Nagvekar as intervenor and the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) President Avelino de Sa as one of the respondents.
After going through the replies, the three-member Commission found that the GMC Medical Superintendent had issued a note dated December 31, 2018, directing all the concerned doctors in the Department of Orthopaedic not to insist on full body photographs and to follow the new guidelines.
Also the GMC Medical Board chairman informed the Dean that no personnel had asked for or insisted for full body photograph from patients with disability.
However, the complainant on February 6, 2019 filed a rejoinder stating that the respondents were still compelling persons with disability to submit full body photographs to obtain railway concession certificate. He also produced with his rejoinder a copy of a disability certificate showing the full body photograph in use.
DRAG president Avelino de Sa in his reply stated that there are many persons with disability in Goa, including himself, who have been issued disability certificate, exposing their affected body parts and annexed copies.
The Commission comprising chairperson Justice U V Bakre and Members Judge Desmond D’Costa and Justice Pramod Kamat observed that under the ‘The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, Section 58 contains the procedure regarding issuance of disability certificate wherein the full body photograph which was mandatory earlier stand replaced with two recent passport size photographs of size 2×2 inches or 51 mm x 51 mm as per Rule 17(2)(b) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
