Transgenders Reservation: The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to ensure one percent reservation for transgenders in all government jobs in the state. The court said that the state government has adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment for transgenders.
Transgenders Reservation: The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to ensure one percent reservation for transgenders in all government jobs in the state. The court said that the state government has adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment for transgenders. The court said that however, provision for reservation has not been made for them yet.
Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the Chief Secretary of the West Bengal government to ensure one percent reservation for transgenders in all government jobs. The High Court order came on the petition of a transgender who cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 and also TET 2022, but was not called for counseling or interview.
In an order passed on Friday, Justice Mantha said that the Supreme Court had held in a 2014 case that ‘hijra’ and ‘kinnar’, apart from male and female in terms of gender, should be considered as “third gender” for the purpose of protecting their rights under Part III of the Constitution. Justice Mantha also said that the apex court had directed the Central and State governments to take steps to treat them as socially and educationally backward citizens and “extend all types of reservation in matters of admission to educational institutions and for government appointments”.
The Chief Secretary of West Bengal had informed the High Court that the State’s Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare had issued a notification on November 30, 2022 that transgender persons are entitled to equal opportunity of employment without any discrimination. The court said that it is clear from the notification that the state itself has adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment for transgender persons. Justice Mantha said that however, as per the order of the Supreme Court, reservation has not been made for transgender persons in the state yet. He also directed the Secretary of the West Bengal Primary Education Board to arrange for the interview and counseling of the petitioner as a special case.
