Unwelcomed and devalued: Preachers of exclusion plagiarize from documents of inclusion

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi published guidelines, titled “Report of the Expert Group for framing Guidelines for admission of candidates with benchmark disabilities in postgraduate courses at AIIMS, New Delhi”, for doctors with disabilities seeking postgraduate admissions to the Institutions of National Importance. The expert group, which lacked representation of people with disabilities, in general, and doctors with disabilities, in particular, puts immense effort into justifying why trainees with disabilities must not join AIIMS, at times in bold and/or capital letters, and at other places, in an outright ableist language. In addition, there is blatant plagiarism from well-known advisories and guidelines which are known for promoting the inclusion of trainees with disabilities. Attitudinal barriers and biases remained incorrigible as sections of these documents were selectively abridged to justify prevailing exclusion practises. We link the connection of these members to the controversial National Medical Council guidelines for undergraduate admission of persons with specified disabilities, which were successfully challenged in courts, as well as to the identification of posts for employment at AIIMS. We justify disability accommodations by citing inclusive court interventions from India to emphasise that the notion of inclusive equality includes the provision for reasonable accommodations. It is high time that the motto “Nothing about us, without us” becomes a locus classicus for immediate change of these discriminatory guidelines, as well as the prescribing powers of such experts.