Can I Challenge a PSU's Medical Rejection Due to My Vision Disability for a Managerial Role?

I have been selected for the post of Chief Manager-Mechanical at a shipbuilding PSU. The position involves ship/submarine construction, refits, modernization, and other relevant fields such as planning, design, procurement, fabrication, berth, outfitting, quality assurance, tests, and trials. I have very low vision in my left eye, which is classified as a 30% disability according to physical disability guidelines. After a pre-medical examination, the company declared me medically unfit for the post because my left eye is not healthy. There is no mention in the advertisement of any standards specifying that individuals with vision in only one eye are ineligible to apply. The advertisement only states: "Applicants should be of sound health and meet the medical fitness standards as prescribed. Candidates shortlisted for appointment following the interview shall undergo a medical test conducted/organized by the company and certified by the company’s Chief Medical Officer." Please advise if I have any claim to the post and whether I can pursue this legally. I feel that since the position is managerial and I can perform all the activities like a normal person, I should be given the opportunity to work.

While I would prefer to leave the legal aspects of your situation to members who are more knowledgeable in legal matters, I shall focus on the practicalities of the situation.

While your statement, "I feel that as the position is managerial and I can perform all the activities as a normal person I should be given the opportunity to work," as a general rule, is quite logical, realistic, and actionable, in your situation, I don't think it would be so.

If your job role and responsibilities involved just a desk job with not many movement-related activities, then the disability in your eyesight may not be a valid argument to keep you off the position. You are in an area where the work would involve a high level of movement, especially on a ship/submarine, where movements are in constricted locations, including flights of stairs, most movements involve... you know what I mean. In general, any movements under such an environment/topology would require eyesight that enables at least a 120-degree view, which is the norm of normal eyesight.

In addition, the typical lighting scenario of such nooks and corners, where lighting would be far less than a typical office environment, should be considered.

The reason why the above aspects are important in your case is that you are in an engineering function, not any other function that doesn't require understanding how the ship/submarine is built and resolving engineering problems, including integration/installation issues. If it were a supply chain management or design position, then the stand of the PSU could be faulted.

The days of only the lower-end staff handling the hands-on work and the manager or senior management controlling only the paperwork (and possibly the credits too) are gone.

I am basing the above views on my experience in a defense project at MDL/Mumbai.

I suggest waiting for other members to respond as well.

Regards,
TS

Thank you for your views. I would like to highlight that the post is in the relevant field of planning/design/procurement, etc. I neither fall under the category of physically disabled nor a normal person. In that case, this is discrimination, as I lose the opportunity to work even though I can perform my duties. Currently, I am working with an organization specialized in Mechanical Projects and have also worked with a Refinery in the Inspection department.