Blind IAS candidate Ajit Kumar fulfills his dream!

Not been allotted to IAS because of limited vision

Ajit’s ranked 208 of 791 in the general category
Story: 

• Thirty-year-old Ajit Kumar from Haryana has an inspiring story to tell.

• Ajit, who became visually impaired at the tender age of three, managed to beat the odds and has qualified for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

• Currently teaching in Shyam Lal College, Ajit graduated in Political Science from Ramjas College. He did his B.Ed. from Delhi University’s Central Institute of Education and also qualified the UGC-NET examinations. “I always knew I wanted to do some work which would also benefit the society. Earlier, I wanted to be a surgeon, but due to my lack of proper vision I had to give up on the idea,” says Ajit.

• “Around 2006, I thought of becoming an IAS officer. In my first attempt I cleared the preliminaries while I qualified on the third attempt,” he adds.

• Musing over the difficulties he encountered, Ajit says: “One needs to study a great deal to crack the IAS exams. I had to make creative use of the various media available. I would make notes in Braille, listen to recordings and make my own recordings.” “My father, who is a retired block development panchayat officer, motivated me constantly,” he adds.

• Ajit cleared the examinations in 2008. However all is still not hunky dory. According to Ajit there are more hurdles.

• “I am very firm that I want to become an IAS officer,” says Ajit whose rank was 208 of 791 students in the general category in the Civil Services examination.

• “Initially I was being allotted a post in the Indian Railways Personnel Service. But that is not befitting of the rank I had earned in the examinations.”

• “I have not been allotted to the IAS since I do not have full vision,” says Ajit. But I am determined to get into the IAS. I have earned it and this is what I deserve. According to the law, one per cent seats in the IAS are to be reserved every year for the visually impaired,” says Ajit.

• However Ajit claims that for some years the reserved seats have not been filled. “The seats if they were allotted in some years were given to persons with low vision but not people who are blind. The Department of Personnel Training which had said it would fill the seats is yet to do so.” “My case is being considered and I hope to receive a notification about my recruitment into the IAS soon. But if I am not absorbed in the IAS, I am ready to take the matter to court,” he states.