Mahesh Narasimhan, a 35 year old resident of Delhi having ten per cent vision got in touch with the Score Foundation in 2014. He had been called for an interview as part of the admission process to the Executive MBA programme at the prestigious Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi. Despite having cleared the written aptitude test and performed well in the interview, he was not offered admission. The misinterpretation of the Persons with Disabilities Act (1995) emerged as a stumbling block in this situation.
As per the Act, at least 3 per cent reservation should be offered to persons with disabilities. The Score Foundation encouraged Mahesh to stand up for his legal rights and engage with the Office of the Chief Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) in this regard. Mahesh made a representation to the CCPD, which then took appropriate action by sharing a letter with the Registrar of the University of Delhi.
After taking consistent action to fulfil his dreams, Mahesh was finally granted admission to FMS in August, 2014. Despite the fact that he joined classes two months after the other students, he went on to achieve the 5th rank in the first semester examinations. The cherry on top of the cake is that he also topped the entire programme and received the gold medal. Mahesh’s story shows us that when you go on an all-out campaign towards achieving your dreams, nothing is impossible.