Ensure 1% quota for transgenders in public employment: HC to WB govt

The Calcutta High Court has directed the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgender persons in all public employment in the state.

Noting that the state government adopted a policy of equal treatment in employment to transgenders, the court said the reservation has, however, not yet been made for them.

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha directed the chief secretary of the West Bengal government to ensure one per cent reservation for transgenders in all public employment.

The high court order was passed on a petition by a transgender person, who succeeded in the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) 2014 and also in the TET 2022, but was not called for counseling or interview.

In the order passed on Friday, Justice Mantha noted that the Supreme Court had declared in a 2014 case that hijras' and eunuchs, apart from binary genders, be treated as "third gender" for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under Part III of the Constitution.

The apex court had also uph