CHENNAI: After the police department, it is the Department of Environment and Forests which has opened its doors for recruitment of transgenders. Necessary amendments have been made to the special rules of the Tamil Nadu Forest Subordinate Service and a gazette notification has been issued in this regard.
Shortly, a notification for recruitment of 1,178 guard cum driver, guards and foresters will be issued and the third gender will be eligible to apply. For higher rank posts like forest rangers and assistant conservator of forests, they may have to wait little longer as TNPSC is yet to make the necessary amendments.
As per the gazette notification, a copy of which is available with Express, the special concession has been provided for transgenders. A candidate, who applies as the third gender, will be eligible for appointment in the vacancies reserved for women as well as under the general category.
Forest secretary Shambhu Kallolikar, who brought-in the amendments said one by one all departments in State are following suit, which is heartening. In case a transgender applies as a female candidate, the applicant will be considered against the vacancies reserved for women as well as the vacancies under the general category and physical measurement test and endurance test prescribed for female category shall apply vis-a-vis for male candidates.
If a third gender candidate belongs to the specified jungle tribes and scheduled tribes and possesses community certificate, then the requirement of physical measurement test prescribed for the jungle tribes and scheduled tribes category shall apply. A third gender candidate, who does not possess any community certificate will be considered under the most backward class community. The amendments came into force on September 12, 2018, as per the notification.