Madras high court directs TN govt to treat transgenders as special category for education and employment

CHENNAI: Madras high court has directed Tamil Nadu govt to treat transgenders as a special category irrespective of their caste and gender for the purpose of employment and education.

Justice V Bhavani Subbaroyan directed the state home department to prescribe separate norms (for employment and education) for transgenders which shall be below the norms prescribed for male and female candidates.

The department shall ensure by directing all the recruiting agencies to specify transgender as a special category and prescribe separate norms for their cut-off mark. The age relaxation that is extended to other special categories shall also be extended to them, the court said.

“Transgenders at no point of time in future shall be clubbed under male or female categories,” the judge said.

The court passed the order on a plea moved by R Anushri, a transgender person, challenging a 2017-18 Group II recruitment conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC).

She alleged that though she secured 121.5 marks as against the cut-off of 90 marks, she was not considered for the recruitment since the commission refused to consider her under special category.

Allowing her plea, the court directed TNPSC to permit her to attend the counselling and give her the first preference if there are more transgenders on the list.


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