Will allow ‘third option’ for trans people applying for jobs and admission: Maharashtra to HC

Police recruitment rules to be amended by March 13 to include physical standards for trans people.

Written by Omkar Gokhale

The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Monday that it will in two days direct all of its departments to provide a “third option” for transgender people to apply for jobs and to educational institutes, both of which are now restricted to male and female categories.

Advocate-general Birendra Saraf, representing the government, also informed a bench of Acting Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne that the police recruitment rules would be amended in a week to include physical standards for transgender people for the posts of constables and drivers.

The bench was hearing a plea filed by Vinayak Kashid, a transgender person with a master’s in electrical engineering, seeking a modification to a May 2022 recruitment ad issued by the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, also known as MahaTransco. Kashid sought reservation for trans people in jobs in the state-run company.

The government lawyer also submitted that a committee for compliance with the Central Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules 2020 would be constituted within a week.

In December 2022, the court directed the government to frame recruitment rules for transgender people as per the 2020 central rules by February 28, 2023.

The 2020 rules provided for procedures to be followed for identifying transgender people for employment and directed the states to frame policies to implement the law within two years.

On January 9, the court said the state government could go ahead and publish the results of 223 candidates selected for various posts in MahaTransco.

After the state-run company advertised for 170 posts of assistant engineers (transmission), Vinayak Kashid applied on May 4. Kashid, however, noticed that the advertisement was in breach of the Supreme Court judgment in the National Legal Services Authority vs Union of India case, which recognised several rights for the transgender community. The judgment had ordered states to reserve government jobs for transgender people.

However, there was no reservation for transgender people. Having got no response from the authorities concerned, Kashid moved the high court, which asked the state government to clarify its transgender reservation policy for MahaTransco.

While hearing a government plea against a Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) order to create a “third gender” option for all recruitments under the home department, a division bench led by then Chief Justice Dipankar Datta accepted the government’s submission on December 9, 2022.

The government then submitted that two transgender applicants, Arya Vijay Pujari and Nikita Mukhyadal, who had approached the MAT for the relief, can be allowed to apply under the “third gender” option for the posts of police constables (unarmed constables or drivers).

The court said it prima facie agreed with the MAT’s order.

Courtesy : TIE

Note: This news piece was originally published in theianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights.