New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Delhi University (DU) for not providing reservation for the physically handicapped in the appointment of non-teaching staff in educational institutions.

"It is strange that handicapped persons are getting reservation in teaching jobs but they are not given such preferential treatment in non-teaching jobs," said a High Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah.

The court's observation came on a petition filed by Pratap Singh, seeking its direction to Delhi University (DU) for granting quota to the physically handicapped.

The petitioner, a physically handicapped person, contended that the University had advertised for various non-teaching posts but seats had not been reserved for the physically challenged despite the law prescribing three percent reservation for them.

The court also directed the university to allow the petitioner to appear in a selection examination for a non-teaching post.

The DU had rejected his application, saying he did not fulfill the eligibility criteria.

The petitioner had applied for the post of assistant registrar and had sought relaxation in the eligibility criteria, which required an applicant to have 65 percent marks in post-graduation. IANS