PIL filed seeking quota for transgenders in jobs, education

A division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad before whom a plea moved by activist Grace Banu Ganesan, the first transgender person to graduate from an engineering college in Tamil Nadu, came up for hearing on Wednesday ordered notice to the State of Tamil Nadu through Ministry of Social Welfare and five others returnable in two weeks. The plea has been posted for further hearing to March 21.

Senor Advocate Jayna Kothari appearing for the petitioner submitted that the Supreme Court in a case relating to National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on holding ‘gender identity’ to be the axis of discrimination against transgender persons had directed the Centre and State Governments to take steps to extend all kinds of reservation in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments.

But the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill 2014 passed by the Rajya Sabha, and pending before the Lok Sabha, provides for two percent of reservation in Government and aided schools and in vacancies filled by direct recruitment. But the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018 passed by the Lok Sabha and pending before the Rajya Sabha does not provide for any reservations for transgender persons in education and public employment.

However, while transgender persons have been included under the Most Backward Classes (MBC) category in Tamil Nadu, there are no clear guidelines on how reservations in educational institutions and public employments should be provided to transgender persons and which category of transgender persons can access the reservations, the senior counsel said.

Moreover, on pointing out that within the MBC category, the chances of transgender persons getting the posts would be very slim, as they would have to compete with other members of the MBC category, the senior advocate said instead of providing reservation to transgender persons by including them under the MBC category, which is a form of vertical reservation, it should be horizontal as a separate category for transgender and intersex persons on the basis of gender identity.

The plea also sought for a direction to the Tamil Nadu State Transgender Welfare Board to issue identity cards to transgender and intersex persons in accordance with the principle of self-identification of gender identity and should not seek for medical re-assignment, mental health assessment, hormone or any other treatment as a pre-condition and without any biological examination.