Reservation for transgender community in Constable/Sub-Inspector posts to be provided; Bihar Govt tells Patna Court

Patna: Bihar Government has informed the Patna High Court that it has decided to provide reservation for transgender people in Constable and Sub- Inspector posts following a notification released on January 14th. The judicial bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Prabhat Kumar Singh observed, "Accounting for the total population of the Transgender Community in the State of Bihar, as per 2011 census, one post for every 500 posts of Constable/Sub-Inspector stands reserved."

The court had instructed the state to enable the community to apply for the posts in December 2020. It noted that the advertisement issued by the Central Selection Board of Constables was unclear if transgender persons could apply for it specified the sex of the applicants as only male or female.

Chief Justice Karol had said, "We are hopeful that the State would adopt a sensitive approach and immediately take remedial measures and the last date to invite applications, for the members of the Transgender Community, shall be extended for such time and period, the State determines it to be feasible and appropriate".

Additionally, the Patna Court also noted, "Prima facie what we find is that the persons belonging to the Transgender Community are totally precluded from the process of applying for a post of a constable, much less, agitate their right of reservation."

While speaking with Madhyamam, Tanmay Nivedita, a transgender activist from Bihar said, "The trans community is a historically oppressed community which has been systematically kept away from accessing stable employment and quality education. As a community that is so economically and socially vulnerable, we will always welcome any step towards employment security".

"However, it is ironic that one of the first state institutions that have given us reservation is also the one who sexually and physically harasses our community the most. The reservation offered to us here is also far from fair. It is based on very limited data that the govt has on the number of trans people in Bihar. The numbers they are basing this reservation (one trans recruit for every 500 recruits) on is highly inadequate," he added.

The matter was last heard in court on 22nd December with the state government assuring a decision that would benefit the transgender community. The matter is now listed for the 28th of January.