The force is going to hire 12,000 constables, including transgenders, within a month or two, it is learnt. The state government has already taken a policy decision on this and a notification for the recruitment is likely to be issued by January-end or the second week of February, sources said.
A senior police officer said, “Right now, we are working on setting physical parameters for transgenders for the recruitment drive. Of the 12,000 posts of constables, 3,600 will be filled by female candidates while the remaining 8,400 will be filled by male and transgender applicants.”
It has been decided that the physical parameters for transgenders will be slightly more rigorous than female candidates but lower than males, the officer further said.
Manabi Bandyopadhyay, a transgender and principal of Krishnanagar Women’s College, questioned why transgenders are given only low-ranking posts. “Transgenders are never considered for posts of officers, engineers, or doctors. In fact, transgenders have immense intelligence and inborn strength. People like Rituparna Ghosh have proved that,” Bandyopadhyay said.
Earlier, the state government had announced “special concessions” for women and transgender candidates in the state joint entrance examination. The registration fee for the general category was Rs 500 but for women and transgender candidates it was Rs 300.
In 2015, the state government announced to constitute the West Bengal Transgender Development Board to cater to over 30,000-strong community in the state and passed a law in the Legislative Assembly in 2019.
Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community hit the streets in Kolkata in August 2022 against the alleged inaction of the Transgender Development Board in fulfilling the promises made when it was formed in June 2015.
The Bihar Police had last year started a process to recruit transgenders as constables while Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu governments also started a similar exercise.
The Indian Express reported in November last year that the armed forces were looking at possible employment opportunities for transgenders and the roles they could perform, while examining the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, and its implications.
It was in 2019 that the Bengal government adopted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.