CurrentAffairs : Maniram Sharma banega IAS babu?
NDTV interviewed an extra-ordinary man called Maniram Sharma yesterday , who has passed the IAS examination, with distinction, despite being 100% deaf. Not only that, according to Maniram, he has secured 243 out of 300 marks in the difficult personal interview section, which the highest any candidate has got so far.
Now comes the bummer. After allowing Maniram to sit for the exam (his medical certificates claimed only 50% deafness), the UPSC medical exam concluded that Maniram was 100% deaf and therefore cannot be selected for the IAS cadre, per rules. He was instead offered the (prestigious) Posts and Telegraph cadre!
Maniram asked two very valid questions during the interview on NDTV :
1. If, he was fit enough according to UPSC, to work in the 'Posts & Telegraph' dept and take important decisions there, what's so different at the IAS cadre does, that he cannot work with them?
2. Despite being 100% deaf, Maniram answered all questions asked by the interviewer flawlessly. In fact, I began to wonder whether this man was really 100% deaf. How did he manage this astonishing feat? The answer was revealed at the end of the interview. It was because Maniram also happens to be an accomplished lip reader! So surprised was the NDTV anchor with Maniram's feat, that he too declared that he has never seen anything like this before. Maniram therefore asked another valid question. If he can appear n antional television and not only understand but answer all questions without any difficulty, why can't he be accepted in the IAS.
Maniram comes from a family of "illiterates" and given his disability, his feat is simply amazing. Rules are rules, but rules also beg an exception, to justify themselves. The 'file' hardened babus in the UPSC probably don't have the authority to make such exceptions. Or they are simply insenitive to what is indeed a deserving case from any angle.
Perhaps its time that some one higher up, should intervene and give Maniram what " he is not begging for but demanding as his right".
Now comes the bummer. After allowing Maniram to sit for the exam (his medical certificates claimed only 50% deafness), the UPSC medical exam concluded that Maniram was 100% deaf and therefore cannot be selected for the IAS cadre, per rules. He was instead offered the (prestigious) Posts and Telegraph cadre!
Maniram asked two very valid questions during the interview on NDTV :
1. If, he was fit enough according to UPSC, to work in the 'Posts & Telegraph' dept and take important decisions there, what's so different at the IAS cadre does, that he cannot work with them?
2. Despite being 100% deaf, Maniram answered all questions asked by the interviewer flawlessly. In fact, I began to wonder whether this man was really 100% deaf. How did he manage this astonishing feat? The answer was revealed at the end of the interview. It was because Maniram also happens to be an accomplished lip reader! So surprised was the NDTV anchor with Maniram's feat, that he too declared that he has never seen anything like this before. Maniram therefore asked another valid question. If he can appear n antional television and not only understand but answer all questions without any difficulty, why can't he be accepted in the IAS.
Maniram comes from a family of "illiterates" and given his disability, his feat is simply amazing. Rules are rules, but rules also beg an exception, to justify themselves. The 'file' hardened babus in the UPSC probably don't have the authority to make such exceptions. Or they are simply insenitive to what is indeed a deserving case from any angle.
Perhaps its time that some one higher up, should intervene and give Maniram what " he is not begging for but demanding as his right".
