NEW DELHI: For the first time in India, disability rights will be part of the MBBS curriculum. When medical colleges commence their new academic session, they will offer a one-month foundation course on disability to be completed by August 31. The Court of State Commissioner for Persons with Disability directed the inclusion of components of disability rights legislations in the curriculum of medical courses, and Medical Council of India (MCI) has released details of the foundation course involving seven hours of disability competencies to be conducted throughout the country . In November 2018, MCI released the new competency-based medical education curriculum but it did not have anything on disability rights. Its focus was instead on medical models of disabilities — an illness or disability as the result of a physical condition. Medical Humanities Group, DU’s University College of Medical Studies and Bucksbaum Institute for Medical Excellence at the University of Chicago were preparing a disability competencies, involving the three stakeholders — doctors with disabilities, disability rights activists and health professional educators. On March 1, they complained to both the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) and State Commissioner for Persons with Disability (SCD) that the new MCI curriculum was lacking a disability rights-based approach. “These statutory bodies forwarded our curriculum to MCI’s board of governors, which circulated the copy of our disability competencies to deans and principals of medical institutions in India and the registrars of all universities and deemed universities in India asking them to strictly follow Section 39 (1) and 39 (2)(d) of the Rights of People with Disabilities Act, 2016. But they still didn’t include disability competencies in the new curriculum,” said Dr Satendra Singh of University College of Medical Science. The sub-sections enjoin the government to create awareness about the rights of the disabled and to orient students of educational institutions to these rights. The group sent a rejoinder on the absence of the disability rights competencies to CCPD. Singh said that following this, the “Reconciliation Board of MCI contacted us to submit our disability competencies to be concluded in one month of a mandatory foundation course.” On July 17, MCI released the details of the August 1-31 foundation course based on disability competencies.