Patna High Court Suggests Reservation For Transgender Community On Regular Basis Under OBC Category; Asks State To Take The Final Decision

"May be, reservation on regular basis can be confined upto O.B.C. category for transgenders," contemplated the Patna High Court recently. A Division Bench comprising of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S. Kumar observed, "A decision in the affirmative would not only uplift the lifestyle and education of the persons, but also going to be a correct step in bringing them into the mainstream." The observation was made in a writ petition filed against pitiable condition of the transgender community in the State of Bihar. The PIL filed by Veera Yadav at the peak of pandemic highlighted the inhumane living conditions of the transgender community in Bihar, which was even deprived of access to food due to lockdown. Taking cognizance of the matter, the Court has addressed various problems being faced by the community. Addressing one such issue of education and employment of transgender persons, the Bench had asked the State Government to clarify the steps taken being taken by it for affording reservation to the members of the Transgender community. Thereafter, it had taken objection to an advertisement issued by the Central Selection Board of Constable and had asked the state authorities to enable the Transgender Community to apply for the post, following which, the Bihar Government decided to offer reservation to the said community in appointment to the post of Constables/Sub-Inspector. The Government also informed the High Court that it is going to create a separate unit of Transgender Police Personnel named as Special Unit (Transgender) at the District Level under the District S.P. When the matter was taken up on Tuesday, the Division Bench opined that considering the total population of the transgender community in Bihar, which is approximately 39,000, the Government should consider conferring similar benefit with respect to other Departments. It observed, "Perhaps, at this point in time, there may not be very many persons to be even eligible to apply. But then, such benefit would only inspire persons from such community to undertake education and to become eligible for appointment to such posts." The matter has now been fixed for April 13, by which time the State Government has been asked to take a final decision with respect to reservation for transgender community in other Departments, perhaps under the OBC category.Recently, the Karnataka Government said that it is willing to consider the transgender persons under one of the categories of Other Backward classes for recruitment, after obtaining the opinion of the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes. Read similar stories: Calcutta High Court Directs Centre To Grant Reservation, Other Benefits To Transgender Persons In Joint CSIR-UGC NET ExamTransgender Persons Moved Tribunal For Reservation In FDA/SDA Jobs At District Courts Case Title: Veera Yadav v. Govt. of Bihar Click Here To Download Order Read Order

Patna High Court Suggests Reservation For Transgender Community On Regular Basis Under OBC Category; Asks State To Take The Final Decision

Akshita Saxena

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