Thursday, November 19, 2020

Transgenders in India may soon get reservation in education under OBC quota

 

In 2014, the Supreme Court had ordered the government to provide transgender people quotas in jobs and education, in line with rules for other minorities.



In 2014, the Supreme Court of India had passed a widely hailed judgment that recognised the rights of transgender people and said they should enjoy all fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. After more than six years of the landmark order, the government has now finally started discussions to implement it. According to The Economics Times, the education ministry has started evaluating ways to introduce a reservation system for transgenders in higher educational institutions. Reports say that it is likely to be done through the OBC route, which means transgender persons would be categorised as Other Backward Castes (OBCs).

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the National Commission for Backward Castes (NCBC) are familiar with the development, according to media reports. The education ministry implements reservations for socially and economically backward castes in central educational institutions only as mandated by the MSJE, the nodal department on all SEBC issues.

NALSA vs Union of India case

The discusions follow the 2014 SC order in NALSA vs the Union of India case. In the order, the SC had directed the Centre and state governments to take steps to treat transgenders “as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and extend all kinds of reservation in admission to educational institutions and in public appointments”.

"It is the right of every human being to choose their gender," it said in granting rights to those who identified themselves as neither male nor female.

It ordered the government to provide transgender people with quotas in jobs and education in line with other minorities, as well as key amenities.

 

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