Wheelchair Bound ISRO Scientist Fight For Service Allocation Despite Cracking UPSC CSE Four Times

New Delhi:  Wheelchair-bound due to muscular dystrophy since the age of 14, Kartik Kansal has cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) four times, an impressive feat for any candidate. Despite his stellar accomplishments, Kartik's path has been marred by systemic hurdles and bureaucratic oversight, as he has been denied service. 

An IIT Roorkee graduate in mechanical engineering, Kartik currently serves as a scientist at ISRO. His UPSC journey began in 2019 when he secured a rank of 813, followed by ranks of 271 in 2021, 784 in 2022, and 829 in 2023. Despite his consistent success, Kartik has not been allocated a service, a perplexing and disheartening outcome.

In 2021, Kartik's rank of 271 made him the top candidate in the locomotor disability category. Yet, he was denied a service allocation, while candidates ranked 272 and 273 were allotted IAS positions. The reason? Muscular dystrophy was not included in the list of conditions eligible for IAS. Instead, Kartik was deemed eligible for the Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group A and Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Excise), his second and third choices.

Kartik's struggle with the system began in 2019. Despite ranking 813 and the availability of 15 vacancies for locomotor disability, only 14 posts were filled, and Kartik was not among them. His disability certificate initially stated a 60% disability, but a medical board at AIIMS later certified him with 90% muscular dystrophy. The board acknowledged his significant physical limitations but affirmed his capabilities in seeing, hearing, speaking, communicating, reading, and writing. They noted his ability to "manipulate with fingers with difficulty and mobilise with a motorised wheelchair."

Despite meeting all physical requirements for IAS and IRS, Kartik received a disheartening response from the central grievance redressal portal: “There were no matching services at your turn as per your rank.”

Retired IAS officer Sanjeev Gupta has championed Kartik's cause, highlighting the inconsistencies in functional classifications and physical requirements across services. Gupta emphasized that Kartik, who did not use a scribe and met all physical requirements, was unjustly denied service. “Kartik didn’t even take a scribe. Despite having muscular dystrophy, he trained to write himself, but the system failed him,” Gupta told media.

Gupta argued that if cerebral palsy is allowed for IAS, muscular dystrophy should be too. He noted that since 2024, the criteria have been merged, making Kartik eligible for IAS. Gupta insists that true justice would be served by granting Kartik an IAS position now, if vacancies have been carried forward, thus rectifying the past oversight.

Kartik has taken his fight to the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) after the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) declined to allocate any service, citing that he did not meet the physical standards required. His case, currently pending in CAT, seeks to rectify the injustice and secure a suitable service.

Kartik remains hopeful that justice will prevail. “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,” he told a newspaper. The CAT is expected to hear his petition in August, potentially setting a precedent for fair treatment of candidates with disabilities.