Provide reservations to transgenders in public employment in six months: Andhra Pradesh High Court directs state govt

The court passed this order while dealing with a plea of a transgender woman who challenged the non-notification of vacancies for transgenders. She had applied for the post of School Assistant (Language) Hindi post and also TGT (Language) Hindi. It was submitted that she was not being considered for appointment as no vacancies were notified.

The counsel for the transgender woman pointed out that from the proposed posts of 16,000 under the DSC-2025 notification, not a single transgender was being accommodated.

The counsel appearing for the state informed the court that the issue of providing special reservation to the transgenders is a policy decision to be taken by the state. It was further submitted that in the absence of a policy decision, the recruitment cannot be faulted.

The court noted that the transgender community is one of the most underprivileged communities in the country.

“One of the most underprivileged communities in this country is the transgender community. Historically and to the present day, transgender individuals have been shunned by society”, the court lamented.

The court observed that the Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India examined the grievances of the Transgender community and the parliament enacted The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 to address the issues regarding discrimination and the rights of the transgender community.

The court, however, noted that no quota in employment or in educational institutions was provided to the transgender communities by the State.

The court held that there is a dire need to mainstream the transgender persons in India and to adopt an inclusive approach including affirmative action by the State in public employment.

“As the origin of the problems of transgender persons in India lies in stigma and discrimination they face in family and society, resulting in their exclusion from the socio-economic cultural-political spectrum, there is a dire need to mainstream them and the adoption of an inclusive approach in all spheres of life including affirmative action by the State in public employment”, the court noted.

The court, therefore, directed, “The Writ Petition is disposed of, directing the State Government to provide reservations to transgenders in public employment within six months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment and consider the case of the petitioner for appointment to the post of School Assistant”.