April 16, 2019
A childhood dream finally looks set to become a reality for 20-year-old
Tathagata Ghosh, who made headlines last week after the Calcutta High
Court passed an order directing the West Bengal Health
University to admit him into the MBBS course at NRS Medical
College and Hospital (NRSMCH) in Kolkata.
“I was in Class 5 when I made up my mind to become a doctor”, says
Tathagata to NewzHook. “I got interested in medicine
because I wanted to help and heal others, hence the decision to become a
doctor”.
If things had gone as planned, Tathagata would have been close to completing
his first year as he cleared the medical entrance exam in 2018 with an all
India rank of 420 in the Physically Disabled category. He was selected for
admission by NRSMCH but this was cancelled as he has schizophrenia.
I have schizophrenia and I feel that someone is looking through the wall at
with me using a machine. My concentration was affected a lot because of
this but with the help of medication, regular counselling and solid family
support, I have overcome this. I worked hard and underwent coaching
regularly to clear the entrance exam. I was one of the star students at my
coaching centre. – Tathagata Ghosh, MBBS student
This single-minded dedication, however, was not good enough for the
university which denied him admission even after the high court ruled in his
favour. It challenged the court order on the grounds that person with
schizophrenia should not be allowed to become a doctor keeping in mind “the
safety of the patients he would treat”.
This is despite the RPWD Act 2016 mandating that physically disabled people
between 40-80% are eligible to study MBBS. Tathagata’s disability
certificate shows he has over 40%.
His lawyer Biswarup Bhattacharya said that throughout the
hearings, Tathagata showed acute knowledge of the Act as well as previous
Supreme Court orders in favour of disabled students seeking to study
medicine.
“Throughout the case Tathagata was extremely vigilant and even referred to
earlier Supreme Court judgements”, says Advocate Bhattacharya. “What we
told the judge was that there was no precedent that could be used to deny him
admission in any course, not just MBBS.” Adds Tathagata, “I studied all
the past judgements on the website Live Law and kept myself informed
throughout”.
The order, hopes Tathagata, will not just pave the way for other students
with disabilities but specifically change attitudes towards people with
mental disabilities.
“All my life I have heard words like ‘mad’ being thrown at me and faced
a lot of prejudice”, he says. “I have overcome that as well as the
challenges that my disability brings to crack the medical entrance exam. I
want people to stop using words like that and I pray the order makes life
easier for other disabled people who want to study medicine.”
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/21986
