Breaking glass ceiling, West Bengal Police set to recruit transgenders as constables

Of 12,000 constable posts, 3,600 will be filled by females, remaining by males and transgender applicants

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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. (Express File Photo)

In a move that will break yet another glass ceiling for the LGBTQ+ community in the state, the West Bengal Police is soon going to recruit transgenders for the posts of constables.

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.

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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.

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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