Reservation for Transgender Persons
Source: The Hindu
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Overview
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Why in News ?
Recently centre has told the Supreme Court that transgender persons can avail of any of the existing 50% reservation in admissions and government jobs already available to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC) across the country.
Reservation Status
- The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that transgender people are eligible for any of the 50% reservations that are currently in place.
Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and Socially and Educationally Backward Communities - They can utilise the reservation in admissions and government positions currently provided to SEBC across the country.
- According to the government, transgender people are eligible for a 10% quota set aside for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of society.
- The transgender community has not, however, been designated by the Ministry as a separate class for reservations.
National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) v Union of India (2014)
- Due to the fact that transgender people are a socially and educationally backward class the Supreme Court declared that they are entitled to reservations.
- We direct the Centre and the State Governments to take steps to treat them [transgender persons] as socially and educationally backward classes of citizens and extend all kinds of reservation in cases of admission in educational institutions and for public appointments,” the judgement stated in reference to reservations.
- After the ruling, transgender people are entitled to reservations.
- However, it makes no indication of the type of reservations, such as whether they are to be horizontal or vertical.
Vertical Reservations
- Vertical reservations are provisions aimed at addressing social asymmetry arising out of caste hierarchy, and in the case of OBCs, social and educational “backwardness”.
- These include reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Horizontal Reservation
- Conversely, horizontal reservation provides positive measures for underprivileged groups inside categories while cutting across all vertical groupings. For instance, the Central government guarantees horizontal reservation for handicapped people in both the general and reserved (vertical) categories of the aforementioned vertical categories.
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