BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to remove any discrimination towards people belonging to the third-gender in the government recruitment process, the state government has asked all its departments to include transgender as a separate category in examination rules.
In a letter to heads of all departments, commissioner-cum-secretary of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities RS Gopalan urged them to include ‘third gender/any other category’ in the application forms in recruitment to various posts under the state government.
All departments have been asked to modify the relevant examination rules, providing for inclusion of transgender as a separate category of gender in the application forms for various posts of the government.
Besides, wherever the gender of the applicant is sought in any form or application, both online and offline, the departments have been asked to create a separate column or box for transgender.
The Section 9 and 10 of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, mandates that no establishment shall discriminate against any transgender person in any matter relating to employment including recruitment, promotion and other related issues. The Act allows self-perception of gender identity and also mandates that the person would have to be recognised as transgender on the basis of a certificate of identity issued by district magistrate.
Sources said following the Act, the state government had in 2020 directed all departments to modify the relevant examination rules providing for inclusion of transgender category. However, owing to non-compliance by some departments, the SSEPD department had to ask them to make the said exam rules in conformity with the provisions of the Act.