Lack of gender option, quota irks transgender

Though the government urges transgenders to give up prostitution and lead a decent life, it does not provide ample opportunities for their development. 

A typical example was the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), the topmost recruitment body in the country, which does not provide space for transgenders right from the application form stage until reservation of jobs in the central government. 

The UPSC results for 2017 were released recently and mostly candidates from an ordinary background had cracked the exam. This made Swapna, a transgender from Madurai, worried, since in the past, her application to the UPSC had been rejected because of her gender. 

Irked by the repeated rejection, Swapna filed an RTI plea seeking an explanation from the UPSC on whether she can apply under the category of transgender and if there was any reservation available for those belonging to the third gender. The Commission had replied that there was no provision for transgenders applying for UPSC jobs and that there was no reservation either. 

The USPC’s reply annoyed Swapna further since the Commission was continuously refusing to encourage transgenders from taking up the coveted posts. 

Speaking to DT Next, Swapna, working as a non-gazetted officer in Sivaganga, said that initially the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) too did not have any provision for transgenders in the application form as well as in reservation. 

Later, when reservation was provided, transgenders were placed under the Most Backward Castes (MBC) category. She then waged a legal battle and sought that transgenders in Scheduled Castes (SC) should not be clubbed in the MBC category and demanded separate quota. She won the case and then got selected in the TNPSC Group-II exam, but was refused a job because of her gender. 

She said though the TNPSC had opened its doors for transgenders, the UPSC was refusing to do so.