GOWRI MANICKAVASAGAM
AHMEDABAD, MAR 6
Gujarat’s first transgender sociopreneur Rajvi Jaan on Sunday has underlined the need for reservation in government jobs and education for her community members, saying their entry in government jobs will change society’s outlook towards them and help in their advancement in life.
Rajvi said many state governments like Karnataka have enacted law to grant reservation in education and jobs to her community. This should be replicated all over the country and the Centre should launch a scheme in this regard.
- In a first, BJP-led Maharashtra Government has informed the Mumbai High Court that it would recruit transgenders in police force this year.
- No proposal to grant reservation to transgenders, says Centre
Rajvi Jaan said this in her acceptance speech at the 5th Edition of Urja Awards ceremony held at Ahmedabad Management Association here on Sunday.
While sharing her experience and hard days with the audience, she stressed on the need to have uniform reservation policy for her community. She said, “It is very important to give reservation in government jobs and education to the transgender community. If by virtue of reservation, transgender persons join the government service, it will not only help community members march ahead in life, but change society’s outlook towards them.”
“As a motivational speaker and sociopreneur, I have been helping over 50-60 women to become self-reliant and eke out a living with dignity in Surat. Am an Ardhnarishwar representing both men and women. It is a great honour to get the Urja Awards on behalf of all,” she said.
She said authorities should be more sensitive towards her community members and issues faced by them.
In many progressive state governments like Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh have enacted law to give reservation in jobs to the third gender.
In a first, BJP-led Maharashtra Government has informed the Mumbai High Court that it would recruit transgenders in police force this year.
No proposal to grant reservation to transgenders: Centre
Incidentally, the Centre has declared in the Parliament on February 8, 2023 that there was no proposal to grant reservation to transgenders.
There is no proposal to introduce reservation for transgenders in education or employment, the central government told Parliament.
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment A Narayanaswamy gave the information while responding to questions from multiple MPs on employment and reservations for transgenders and steps taken by the government to deal with discrimination against the community.
Narayanaswamy told the Lok Sabha that 10,653 transgender persons are registered under the National Portal for Transgender Persons. On the question that whether the government has details of the number of transgenders employed in government and private jobs, the minister said that no such data is available.
He also said that the government has enacted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019, which prohibits discrimination against the community.
The statement comes even as the Delhi High Court on January 23 admitted a petition seeking reservation for transgenders in jobs and education. The court had also issued a notice to the Centre, according to Live Law.
In March last year, the Madras High Court had recommended to the Tamil Nadu government to provide a specific percentage of reservation to the transgenders in state government jobs.
