Justice Rajasekhar Mantha has ordered the Chief Secretary of the West Bengal government to ensure that one per cent is reserved for transgender persons in all government jobs.
The apex court order was issued on the petition of a transgender person who passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014 and also the TET in 2022 but was not summoned for counselling or an interview.
In the order passed on Friday, Justice Mantha noted that the Supreme Court had held in a 2014 case that hijras and eunuchs, in addition to binary genders, should be treated as a “third gender” for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court also upheld the right of transgender people to decide their self-identified gender and directed the central and state governments to provide legal recognition of their gender identity, such as male, female or third gender.
Justice Mantha also noted that the apex court had directed the central government and state governments to take steps to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and “extend all kinds of reservations in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments.” The West Bengal Chief Secretary had informed the apex court that the state’s Women, Child Development and Social Welfare Department on November 30, 2022, issued a notification that transgender persons were entitled to equal employment opportunities without any discrimination. The court said it was clear from the notification that the state itself had adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment for transgender persons.
Justice Mantha said that however, reservation has not yet been made in the state for transgender persons as per the Supreme Court Order.
It also directed the Secretary, West Bengal Board of Primary Education to arrange interview and counselling for the petitioner as a special case.
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