Amid news reports suggesting that the Gujarat government is investigating the recruitment of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in the state under the physical disability quota, the names of seven serving IAS officers have emerged as beneficiaries of this quota.
The officers include:
- Sonal Mishra, 1997 batch
- Sandip Sangle, 2007 batch
- Manishkumar Bansal, 2013 batch
- Snehal Bhapkar, 2018 batch
- Amol Awate, 2022 batch
- Ravi Arora, 2006 batch
- Jayant Kishor Mankale, 2020 batch
Of these officers, four hail from Maharashtra, while one each is from Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh.
Ravi Arora and Jayant Mankale have vision impairments. Notably, Arora’s disability claim was initially rejected by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), but he successfully challenged the decision in court. Sonal Mishra also has a vision impairment. In contrast, Sandip Sangle, Manishkumar Bansal, Snehal Bhapkar, and Amol Awate have claimed locomotor disabilities, which relate to movement difficulties and limb impairments. Locomotor disability, also known as mobility disability, limits limb movement and makes it challenging for a person to move around.
The UPSC provisions a 3% reservation for physically disabled candidates with at least a 30% disability. Over the past four years, this quota has increased to 4%.
The Gujarat government’s probe aims to ensure that the recruitment process under the disability quota is transparent and adheres to the established guidelines. The investigation will likely review the claims and verifications of disabilities among the mentioned IAS officers to maintain the integrity of the recruitment process.
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