JNU considers granting extra points to transgender admission seekers

“We have proposed four deprivation points for transgender students, among others. But there is still some debate on whether it should be four or five points. If the Council passes the proposal, it will be implemented from the next academic session,” said Ajay Kumar Patnaik, a JNU professor who was one of the committee members.

The step has been welcomed by JNU students, especially the in-campus Queer group.

“If this proposal is passed, it will be a commendable move. But such deprivation points should also be there for the teaching and non-teaching community, especially since we now have a transgender principal in the country,” said Gourab Ghosh, a member of Dhanak, JNU’s Queer group.

He, however, added that several things needed to be done in practical terms to embrace alternative genders.

“There are no unisex toilets on campus. There is also no clarity on which hostel transgender students will be accommodated in and who will be their roommates. These issues need to be looked at,” said Ghosh.

As part of its admission policy, JNU already has “deprivation points” for students belonging to backward areas, women, Kashmiri migrants and applicants from the Defence category.

Besides including the transgender option in the gender column of its admission forms — as mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) after a Supreme Court judgment in 2014 declared them the third gender — JNU has taken several steps for gender inclusion.

In 2014, the university introduced the third gender option in the JNU students’ union poll forms.

In 2015 revamped their GSCASH (Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment) logo to include alternative genders.