Rajasthan HC Issues Notice on Transgender OBC Reservation

• 24 Jan 2025

Why in News? 

The Rajasthan High Court has issued a notice to the state government in response to a petition. A transwoman, challenging the government’s classification of transgender people as Other Backward Classes (OBC) for reservation in public education and employment.  

Key Points 

• Petitioner: Ganga Kumari, the first transwoman to join Rajasthan police as a constable, filed the petition. 
• About the Issue: The Rajasthan government’s January 2023 circular categorises transgender people under OBC for reservation, which petitioner argues could lead to exclusion from both OBC and transgender-related benefits. 
• Legal Basis: Petitioner contends that this classification violates the Supreme Court's National Legal Services Authority Vs. Union of India (2014) judgment, which calls for treating transgender people as a distinct group eligible for reservations, but not necessarily within the OBC category. 
• NALSA Judgment: The 2014 Supreme Court decision instructed governments to offer reservations to transgender people, considering them "socially and educationally backward."  
  • However, there is ambiguity on whether this implies inclusion within existing socio-economic categories like OBCs or horizontal reservation for transpeople. 
• Court Interpretations: Other states, such as Madhya Pradesh, have interpreted the NALSA judgment as placing transpeople within the OBC category, while states like Karnataka, Madras, and Calcutta have upheld horizontal reservation. 

 Transgender 

• Transgender person means someone whose gender does not match with the gender assigned to that person at birth.  
• It clarifies terms like ‘person with intersex variation’ and ‘transgender person’ to include trans men and women, regardless of surgery or therapy.  

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 

• Non-discrimination: Prohibits discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, and public facilities, and affirms rights to movement, property, and office.  
• Certificate of Identity: Grants the right to self-perceived gender identity and requires district magistrates to issue certificates without medical exams.  
• Medical Care: Ensures HIV surveillance, access to medical care, sex reassignment surgeries, and therapy with insurance coverage.  
• National Council for Transgender Persons: Established to advise the government and address grievances.  
• Offences and Penalties: Punishes offences like forced labor, abuse, and denial of rights with imprisonment (6 months to 2 years) and fines.