Bihar lays out plan to open police force to transgenders

This is a positive development and reinforces the change in outlook of the government and the society towards the community.

VEERA YADAV, petitioner

PATNA: Bihar will post a subinspector and four constables in each of the state’s 38 districts, who belong to the transgender community, the government told the Patna High Court on Wednesday.

The government has asked the Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) and Bihar Police Subordinate Selection Commission (BPSSC) to include the gender identity of transgender persons in the upcoming examinations which will be notified next month.

The Bihar home department submitted its affidavit in a petition filed by trans activist Veera Yadav last year.

Filed in the Patna high court in April 2020, the Vaishali resident argued that members of the community should be allowed in state police departments but the recruitment exam forms did not possess a column that recognised their gender identity.

The Supreme Court in 2014 had legally recognised the gender identity of transpersons and directed the Centre and states to ensure equal opportunities to members of the community.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) act passed in 2020 prohibits discrimination against them in several spheres, including employment.

In the affidavit filed before a two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjoy Karol and comprising justice S Kumar, the government said that it would also consider creating a squad of members of the community if their population was found to be higher than what is mentioned in the census of 2011.

Earlier this year, the Bihar police has given its nod to appointment of transgender persons in the force.

A government resolution dated January 15 stated that for every 500 appointments of constables and sub-inspectors, a transgender person would be appointed.

This proportion was calculated based on the population ratio of transpersons in the state: as per census figures, the state has a population of 104.1 million and out of them, 40,827 identified as transgender — that means there are 39 transpersons per lakh population. Accordingly, the Bihar police stated that they would employ 51 transgender persons against the sanctioned strength of 130,243.

“It means 40 constables and 11 sub-inspectors can be appointed from among transgenders,” the home department resolution stated.

This system of populationbased representation is not followed for any other community.

Women have a 35% reservation in government services.

The state has a vacancy of 8,000 constables and 1500 subinspectors at present.

“This is a positive development and reinforces the change in outlook of the government and the society towards the community,” the petitioner, Veera Yadav, said.

Recently, Monika Das, 32, a trans woman who worked in a commercial bank, was appointed the presiding officer by the Election Commission for the Bihar assembly elections held in 2020.

The Lok Janshakti Party headed by Chirag Paswan, fielded a transgender person, Ram Darshan Prasad, from the Hathua seat in Gopalganj district, who lost to Rajesh Kumar Singh of Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD).