New Delhi: The system of differently-abled candidates bringing their own scribes to write competitive examinations is being discontinued. The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has decided to tighten the rules governing the engagement of scribes in such exams.

According to the new guidelines, all agencies conducting examinations, including the UPSC, SSC and National Testing Agency, will be responsible for providing scribes to candidates. The Centre has also directed these agencies to prepare a panel of trained scribes within two years. Only individuals with at least three years less academic qualification than the candidate will be eligible to serve as scribes. 

The move aims to ensure fairness, transparency and comprehensiveness in the conduct of competitive examinations amid reports of widespread irregularities under the existing system.

The Centre has further recommended that differently-abled candidates be encouraged to attempt the examinations independently with the help of assistive technologies. These include laptops with specialised software, question papers printed in Braille or large fonts, screen readers such as JAWS or NVDA and speech-to-text software.

Examination centres, too, must be made differently-abled-friendly. Facilities such as ramps, lifts, audio announcements, wide corridors and seating on the ground floor should be mandatory. In addition, staff should be trained to assist differently-abled candidates, and a grievance redressal mechanism must be in place.