NEW DELHI: A plea was moved before the Delhi High Court against the rule allowing only female candidates to pursue B.Sc (Hons.) Nursing course in nursing colleges run by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi University and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
file photoThe plea was moved by Indian Professional Nurses Association, which is a non-governmental registered body working for the welfare of nurses across the country through Advocates Robin Raju and Aanchal Bumb. The issues raised pertains to discriminatory gender-based eligibility criteria, the plea said, adding that it is of extreme significance to all non-female persons who aspire to study B.Sc (H) Nursing course in a college in Delhi.
Male and third gender candidates are made to face discrimination in the admission process laid out by nursing colleges that are affiliated with respondents, the plea said. The plea highlighted that Kerala is one of those states where nursing is truly being considered as a field where the potential to excel is considered same irrespective of gender. The Government of Kerala has even recently announced reservation for transgender students in nursing courses in the state, it said.
“Further, continuing with the practice of considering only female candidates eligible for admission to B.Sc.(H) Nursing course is manifestly arbitrary and does not meet the standard of reasonable nexus to object sought to be achieved and reasonable classification based on intelligible differentia imposed by Article 14,” the plea stated.
It added, “The classification created only entitles female candidates to a specific B.Sc. (H) Nursing course on the basis of a rule that does not consider the present-day realities. The rule completely discards the fact that there is a dearth of nursing professionals in the country and hence prohibiting non-female candidates from getting admission to B.Sc (H) Nursing course is also against the interest of the public at large.”
