Calcutta HC to govt: Ensure 1% transgender job quota in Bengal
Times of India | 17 June 2024
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court has directed Bengal govt to ensure 1% reservation for transgender persons in all public employment, noting that no reservation was in place for the community in spite of a govt policy of equal treatment in employment.
“This court directs the chief secretary of the government of West Bengal to ensure 1% reservation for the category of persons mentioned in the NALSA judgment, in all public employment in the state,” Justice Rajasekhar Mantha said in his order last Friday.
Supreme Court’s NALSA judgement in 2014 was the first to legally recognise non-binary gender identities and uphold fundamental rights of transgender persons.
The HC’s order was passed after the court heard a petition by a transgender person, who had not been called for counselling or interview in spite of succeeding in Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 and TET 2022.
Justice Mantha noted that Supreme Court had declared in a 2014 case that ‘hijras’ and eunuchs be treated as “third gender” for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution.