Dreams end in disappointment as no transperson qualifies in biggest Maha Police recruitment drive

Due to lack of reservation, transwomen who were asked to compete in physical exams on test parameters meant for women, had to eventually fight for a place in men’s category. Women have 30 per cent reservation in police recruitment. Eventually of the 73, five transwomen attended written exams, of which two — one for police constable and the other police driver — cleared them but did not get enough marks to make the cut.

Of the 73 transpersons who applied, 60 completed the formalities for physical exam, which is the first stage in the recruitment process. However, some of them did not turn up for physical exams, while some did not have necessary documentation.

Police recruitment exams have been divided into the ones conducted by the Mumbai Police and rest of Maharashtra. Of the nearly 60, around 20 were from Mumbai, the rest were from rest of the state. From these, while no one cleared the physical test in rest of Maharashtra, five transwomen qualified for written exams in Mumbai.

DCP Tejaswi Satpute, overseeing the recruitment in Mumbai, said that of the five transwomen who gave the written test, one was for police driver’s post while the other four were for police constable. From these, only two — one each for police driver and police constable qualified.

“Vaishnavi Aurade, who cleared the police constable exam, had 48 marks out of 100 while other transwomen who cleared the police driver’s test, too, did not score enough to make it to the merit list,” Satpute told The Indian Express.

In the physical exams, transwomen were allowed to have the test categories same as women – 800 metres run instead of 1,600 metres for men, while they had to vie for a place in the men’s list. While women have 30 per cent reservation in police recruitment, transwo-men cannot take advantage of this. An official said that there are 10 vertical and 10 horizontal reservations in the police recruitment and the transwomen who passed the exam did not fall in any of them.

The vertical reservations include 30 per cent reservation for women, 15 per cent for former army personnel and 5 per cent for sportspersons among others. The horizontal reservations are the caste-based reservations and those based on economic status among others. Transpersons, too, sought reservations in the recruitment, however, their plea is before the court. Transpersons have applied under their caste reservation as well.

An official said that while most transwomen did not fare too poorly in the physical examination, they scored poorly in the written exams. “They would need some more handholding to have a realistic chance for qualifying in the next few years,” an official told The Indian Express.

Beed based Nandini Pan-chal, a transwoman who gave her physical exams in Solapur, who did not qualify, said, “A lot of us could not compete because we had only three mon-ths to practise since the court intervened three months prior to the recruitment drive. Several of us have lost touch with studies for several years now.”

She is, however, hopeful for the future. “Coaching academies were not willing to take us on board. We were competing against men and women who have been practising for five-six years. We have been seeking reservation so that we stand a chance,” Panchal said.

While Panchal belongs to the Other Backward Caste (OBC) category, she says she could not apply under OBC as she did not have the necessary documents and ended up applying under general category. Panchal said she would now apply for the recruitment of forest guards.

Meena Seshu, co-founder of NGO Sangram, said that it appears the government was not really keen in ensuring transpersons qualified.

“It appears that since the court asked them to allow transpersons to participate, the government allowed it. However, they did not take any measures such as reservation to help them qualify. Several of them have left home early in life and are at a disadvantage as compared to other candidates,” said Seshu.

A lawyer guiding the transpersons said, “The reservation plea will be heard in June. Two seats have been protected by the courts till the hearing is complete. If the reservation plea is accepted by the court, we could still have two transpersons in the force.”