Blind Man Fought For 3 Yrs To Become An Ias Officer

May 15, 2012

[img]http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2012/may/11ajitkumar.jpg[/img]

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[b]Professor-turned-IAS aspirant Ajit Kumar fought a 3-year battle to claim his rightful place in the Civil Services. This is his story.[/b][/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size="5"]"M[/size]y prolonged illness took away my eyesight forever. But it was not my biggest challenge," shares Ajit Kumar Yadav, who recently received appointment letter for the Indian Administrative Services (IAS).[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
Even after securing a rank of 208 among 791 successful candidates in the Civil Services examination, Ajit was denied an IAS appointment due to his blindness.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
But he was not deterred by this. He fought a three-year legal struggle to get his rightful place.[/size][/font]

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[size="5"]A[/size]jit lost his vision completely at the tender age of five after suffering from acute diarrhoea.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
But he went on to complete his schooling from Springdale School in New Delhi.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
"In spite of being differently-abled my confidence was always high and I never get bogged down when faced with any difficulty. I always stood first in class," shares Ajit.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
Ajit had no access to computers in the 1990s and only few technical aids were there.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
Braille books were available on very limited topics. Immediately after completing his Master's in Political Science from Ramjas College, Delhi University, Ajit began teaching at a government school in Haryana. Then he cleared UGC NET-JRF and joined Shyamlal College of Delhi University as Assistant Professor.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
"I never took my blindness as a physical challenge but society has a different thinking about a person who is physically handicapped. In the college lectureship interview I was asked how I will manage students in class. I proved those doubts wrong when students used to come even on Sundays to attend my classes!" he shares.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
"One day in 2005, I heard the Prime Minister say that the doors of IAS must be opened to visually impaired citizens. That very moment I realised what I wanted to do with my life," says Ajit.[/size][/font]
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[size="5"]A[/size]jit had no access to computers in the 1990s and only few technical aids were there.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
Braille books were available on very limited topics. Immediately after completing his Master's in Political Science from Ramjas College, Delhi University, Ajit began teaching at a government school in Haryana.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
Then he cleared UGC NET-JRF and joined Shyamlal College of Delhi University as Assistant Professor.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
"I never took my blindness as a physical challenge but society has a different thinking about a person who is physically handicapped. In the college lectureship interview I was asked how I will manage students in class. I proved those doubts wrong when students used to come even on Sundays to attend my classes!" he shares.[/size][/font][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
"One day in 2005, I heard the Prime Minister say that the doors of IAS must be opened to visually impaired citizens. That very moment I realised what I wanted to do with my life," says Ajit.[/size][/font]