Recruitment of transgender people in Maharashtra police: What is the Govt-appointed panel on it?

Today is the last day for the state government appointed panel to come up with physical test criterion for transpersons who have applied for recruitment in the Maharashtra police force. What is this panel and what factors are being taken into consideration?

Written by Mohamed Thaver

Today is the last day for Maharashtra’s state government-appointed panel to come up with physical test criteria for transpersons who have applied for recruitment in the Maharashtra police force for the first time.

Back in December 2022, a Bombay High Court order made provisions for third-gender persons to apply for police jobs. Following this, the Director General (Training and Special units) Sanjay Kumar ordered for applications to be open to transgender people for two days, beginning December 13.

What is this panel and what factors are being taken into consideration? We explain.

What is the new provision for recruiting transgender people?

In November, Arya Pujari, a transperson, petitioned the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) after she was not allowed to apply for the 18,331 posts for constables and driver constables advertised by the Maharashtra police.

MAT directed the Maharashtra government to allow transpersons to apply, following which the government approached the Bombay High Court stating that no guidelines had been formulated for hiring of transpersons. The HC then pulled up the government and upheld the order given by MAT that transpersons be allowed in the force.

Is there any deadline issued by the Bombay High court?

Yes, the Bombay High Court has asked the Maharashtra government to come up with criterion for physical tests of transpersons latest by February 28. The HC said that if the government did not come up with the criterion by then, it would not be allowed to conduct the written exams for male and female candidates. The physical exams of male and female candidates are currently underway across the state.

What is the government-appointed panel for physical tests?

In order to ensure that they come up with the criterion before the deadline given by the Bombay HC, a committee headed by Director General (Training and Special Squads) Sanjay Kumar was created by the government, which further comprises Principal Secretary (home), Director of Medical Education, Deputy Secretary Law and Judiciary department among others was formulated.

The Committee will also be co-ordinating with the social welfare department and writing to the government for a transgender representative to discuss and formulate the rules that should be in place for physical testing. The committee has been given a deadline of January 30, to frame the rules.

What is the physical criterion for male and female candidates?

Candidates will undego multiple fitness tests. For men, the shot-put weight is 8 kgs while for women it is 4 kgs. When it comes to the 100 meters run, the timing for men is lower as compared to women. When it comes to the race, men must run 1,600 meters while women must run 800 meters. When it comes to physical checks, for women height is a criterion, while for men, height, weight and chest measurement is taken into consideration. The panel will now have to decide the criterion for transpersons on the same yardstick.

The Committee is referring to the rules formulated by other states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bihar where transpersons are allowed in the police force. Apart from that, the panel is referring to UN guidelines and judgements given by the Supreme Court and High Courts on similar issues in the past. In most states that criterion for woman has been replicated for transpersons in physical tests.

Courtesy  : TIE

Note: This news piece was originally published in theindianexpress.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights