Madras High Court advocate has been chosen for Javed Abidi award this year

M. Karpagam, a visually impaired lawyer practising at the Madras High Court, has been selected for this year’s NCPEDP-Mphasis Javed Abidi Universal Design Award in the public policy and advocacy category.

She is the first visually impaired woman advocate who is actively practising, including arguing her cases, in the High Court, she says. Her journey has been fraught with challenges.
 

Ms. Karpagam was born with congenital glaucoma in both eyes. Her family moved from their native village near Ponneri in Tiruvallur district to Chennai for her treatment and education.

She is passionate about the rights of the disabled. She has filed several public interest litigation petitions, including those on accessibility in temples for the disabled and more recently on the need for shelter for the mentally challenged persons during the COVID-19 pandemic and the accountability in the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund (CMPRF). The court sought a report on the status of the mentally challenged persons from the Commissioner for the Differently Abled. It ordered the government to update the CMPRF portal within eight weeks.
 

She specialises in public interest litigation to protect the rights of persons with disability. “All the rights are given in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, but nothing is implemented. I take it up in their interest and see how I can protect their rights,” she says.

Ms. Karpagam has a degree in biomedical engineering from Anna University. It was a struggle to get the disability certificate from government doctors, she recalls.

She had a cut-off of 197.25 but could not pursue medicine owing to her disability. Admission to Anna University was initially withheld for want of a certificate of disability from a government doctor. “I was reduced to tears by the doctor who told me to opt for liberal arts instead of STEM as I could not read. On seeing my condition, some of the other doctors said they would certify me,” Ms. Karpagam says.

She graduated from Anna University with a GPA of 8/10. She completed LLB (Honours) from the School of Excellence in Law, Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, with a gold medal in 2018.
 

On her decision to take up law, she says, “Every person who goes for disability certificate has a problem as there are no uniform methods of certification. I want a system under which students can get their disability certificate with dignity.”

The award will be presented virtually on Monday.
Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/disability-brings-out-the-activist-in-her/article32710305.ece