Which disabilities qualify for PwBD reservation in UPSC CSE, and who issues the certificate?

PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) reservation requires a minimum 40% disability under the RPwD Act, 2016. UPSC recognises 5 disability categories. The certificate is issued by a Government hospital's Chief Medical Officer. 4% of vacancies are reserved for PwBD, with additional age relaxation of up to 10 years (General) to 15 years (SC/ST). Eligible candidates get a scribe and 20 extra minutes per hour.

PwBD Certificate for UPSC CSE — Complete Guide

Legal Framework

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016 replaced the older Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. It expanded the list of specified disabilities from 7 to 21 categories. For government reservation purposes, the Act defines a "benchmark disability" as a disability of 40% or more as certified by a notified certifying authority.

UPSC follows this Act for PwBD reservation in the Civil Services Examination.

Five PwBD Categories Recognised by UPSC

Although the RPwD Act lists 21 disability types, UPSC groups them into 5 broad categories for reservation and accommodation purposes:

Category Code	Disability Type	Examples from RPwD Act's 21 Categories
PwBD-1	Blindness and Low Vision	Total blindness, low vision
PwBD-2	Deaf and Hard of Hearing	Deafness, hard of hearing
PwBD-3	Locomotor Disability	Cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, muscular dystrophy, acid attack survivors, locomotor impairment
PwBD-4	Autism, Intellectual Disability, Specific Learning Disability, Mental Illness	Autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, dyslexia, mental illness
PwBD-5	Multiple Disabilities (including Deaf-Blindness)	Any combination of two or more of the above

Important: Not all PwBD categories are eligible for all IAS/IPS/IFoS/other services. UPSC publishes a detailed service-wise PwBD eligibility matrix with each notification. For example, PwBD-4 (Autism, Intellectual Disability) candidates may be eligible for certain Group B/C posts but not for IAS. Always check the specific notification.

40% Disability Threshold

The benchmark disability threshold is 40% or more of a specified disability. This percentage is assessed by a medical board at a government hospital. The certifying authority records the disability percentage on a standardised disability certificate.

Candidates with less than 40% disability are not eligible for PwBD reservation or accommodations through UPSC.

Reservation and Age Relaxation

Benefit	Extent
Vacancy reservation	4% of total vacancies (horizontally across all categories)
Age relaxation — General-PwBD	10 years (up to age 42)
Age relaxation — OBC-PwBD	13 years (OBC's 3-year relaxation + 10 years = up to age 45)
Age relaxation — SC/ST-PwBD	15 years (SC/ST's 5-year relaxation + 10 years = up to age 47)
Extra attempts	Additional attempts corresponding to age relaxation (e.g., 10 extra attempts for General-PwBD)

Scribe Facility — Detailed Rules

Eligible PwBD candidates may use a scribe (amanuensis) to write the examination on their behalf.

Who is automatically eligible for a scribe:

PwBD-1: Blindness
PwBD-3: Locomotor disability affecting both arms (BA) and cerebral palsy

Other PwBD categories: Candidates from PwBD-2, PwBD-4, PwBD-5 and other locomotor disabilities can also request a scribe by submitting a certificate from the Chief Medical Officer/Civil Surgeon of a Government Health Care institution (in the format of Appendix V of UPSC notification) confirming their physical inability to write.

Scribe rules (per the DEPwD scribe guidelines — OM dated 29 Aug 2018, revised 10 Aug 2022 after the Supreme Court's ruling in Vikas Kumar v. UPSC, 2021):

Rule	Requirement
Own scribe	The candidate may bring their own scribe of their own choice, with no qualification bar on that scribe. The candidate must give a declaration about the scribe's relationship and credentials.
Scribe arranged by the exam body	If the candidate opts for a scribe provided by the conducting body, the scribe's qualification should be one step below the candidate's qualification.
Cannot be	A person who is themselves a candidate for the same examination.
Documentation	The candidate and scribe submit the prescribed declaration/undertaking before the exam.

Note: The earlier requirement that a scribe "must not be a graduate" was relaxed by the 2022 guidelines. A candidate's own scribe can now be of any qualification; the "one step below" rule applies only when the exam body supplies the scribe.

Extra Time — 20 Minutes Per Hour

Eligible PwBD candidates receive 20 minutes of compensatory time per hour of examination:

Exam Paper Duration	Extra Time Provided	Effective Total Time
2 hours (Prelims GS Paper I or II)	40 minutes	2 hours 40 minutes
3 hours (Mains papers)	60 minutes	4 hours

Categories automatically eligible for extra time:

PwBD-1 (Blindness)
PwBD-3: Locomotor disability (both arms affected) and Cerebral Palsy

For other PwBD categories, extra time requires submission of the Appendix V certificate from a government medical authority.

Issuing Authority for PwBD Certificate

The disability certificate must be issued by a Government hospital — specifically:

Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Civil Surgeon
Medical Superintendent of a Government healthcare institution

Private hospital certificates are not accepted by UPSC. The certificate must state the disability category, percentage of disability, and whether it is permanent or temporary.

UPSC Accommodation Summary for PwBD

Accommodation	Who Gets It
OBC/EWS/SC/ST combined with PwBD	PwBD is a horizontal reservation — you can be SC-PwBD and get both benefits
Scribe	Blindness, BA locomotor, cerebral palsy (automatic); others on medical certificate
Extra time (20 min/hr)	Same as scribe eligibility
Sitting arrangement	Separate seating, ground floor if needed
Larger font question paper	Blindness / low vision candidates

Mentor Tip

Obtain the PwBD certificate from a government district hospital's medical board — not from a single doctor. UPSC occasionally asks for a fresh medical board certificate if the existing one is old. Get the certificate re-assessed if there has been any change in disability percentage. Carry the original and two self-attested photocopies on interview day.