Calcutta HC orders 1% job reservation for transgenders in West Bengal
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Calcutta: In a significant move, the Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to ensure a one percent reservation for transgender persons in all public employment across the state.
Noting that the state government adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment to transgenders, the court said the reservation has, however, not yet been made for them. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the chief secretary of the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgenders in all public employment.
The high court order was passed on a petition by a transgender person, who succeeded in the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 and also in the TET 2022, but was not called for counseling or interview. In the order passed on Friday, Justice Mantha noted that the Supreme Court had declared in a 2014 case that ‘hijras’ and eunuchs, apart from binary genders, be treated as “third gender” for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution.
The West Bengal chief secretary had informed the high court that the state’s Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare on November 30, 2022, made a notification that transgender persons were entitled to equal opportunity of employment without any discrimination whatsoever.
The court said it is clear from the notification that the state itself had adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment to transgender persons. Justice Mantha said the reservation has, however, not yet been made in the state for transgender persons in accordance with the Supreme Court order.
Source: PTI