The boards ignore the SC order, saying that there is no one to disable, which cleanses the policy. Bharat News

Many of the disabled candidates who have approved the NEET exam in 2025, have been disqualified by many of the 16 medical boards across India to do MBBS due to their disability. Candidates complained that the board seems to be unknown or poorly trained in the new interim guidelines on the “functional assessment” of disabled persons issued on July 19. There is no appellate body constituted by the National Medical Commission (NMC) or Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), as directed by the Supreme Court, candidates have no platform.According to the National Testing Agency, 753 out of 8,842 candidates handicapped for the NEET examination have approved it. Interim guidelines stated that legal and policy development collectively emphasizes the priority of “rigid percentage-based disability on thresholds”. They talk about proper housing facilities, re -looking at eligibility criteria and adopting assessment criteria focused on personal abilities.Nevertheless, according to a wheelchair-use candidate, who was rejected, the board asked the person to do seven physical activities, including seven physical activities, standing and climbing stairs. Another candidate with missing fingers was rejected by a board in Tamil Nadu, but went to Kerala and selected for consultation for All India Kota.NMC has failed to identify at least one assessment center in each state, although the apex court order in October last year stated that “the availability of medical boards should be increased so that each state has a minimum one medical board and the students who have passed the examination for proper medical examination of students in the union area”. With only 16 centers in 11 states, candidates are forced to spend a large amount of travel, food and housing.“The boards seem to be very poor sensitivity to deal with disabled candidates. A board in Chennai referred to the candidate as a” patient “, while rejecting him, saying that he is” wheelchair bound “. How would they choose when they see him as a patient?” Dr. Satendra Singh said, the founder of disabled doctors: Agent of Change, the largest network of India’s health professionals disabled.Despite the Supreme Court order stated: “To enable members of the disability assessment boards to effectively implement the functional qualification testing, they must be adequately trained by professionals and individuals who have worked on disability justice”. It further stated that each disability assessment board consists of at least one doctor with disability.Although counseling began on 21 July 2025, no training program has been published for members of disability assessment boards and no instructions have been issued to include a doctor with disability on boards.“NMC had agreed in court to change the name of boards from disability assessment boards to capacity assessment boards to reflect changes in the focus of assessment, but the word is nowhere in the interim guidelines. The disabled candidates are paying the price and not everyone can afford to go to the court,” Dr. He said the interim guidelines were inadequate, although the NMC expert committee took him nine months to frame time for 2025–26 academic year.