Tamil Nadu: Transgender set to join police service

Chennai: In a giant leap, a transgender is all set to secure a berth in Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services. In a significant order, the Madras high court has paved the way for including transgender category in the application for posts in government services.

Directing Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board (TNUSRB) to consider K. Prathika Yashini, who was disqualified for SI recruitment process by a whisker for appointment to the post, the First bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice T. S. Sivagnanam, said “the social impact of such recruitment cannot be lost sight of, which would give strength to the case of transgenders. We are of the view that the petitioner is entitled to be recruited to the post of SI and for declaration of her result with the hope that she would carry out the duties with the dedication and commitment."

The bench hoped that by the time the next recruitment process is done, TNUSRB would have taken corrective steps for including the third gender as a category.

Yashini of Kanthanpatti, Salem, submitted that she remained as K. Pradeep Kumar, a male, till completion of PG diploma course in Computer Application, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. However, after she noticed changes in her body, doctors identified that she was transgender. Leaving behind her family members, she had undergone sex change in Kilpauk Medical College. The sex change was notified in gazette and her name had been changed to K Prathika Yashini.

She approached the court when her application for recruitment to SI post was rejected on the ground that her name did not match with that of her name mentioned in the original certificates. Based on court direction, she took part in the written examination held on May 23, 2015. After coming out successful, she took part in field trials on August 5.

Her counsel Bhavani Subbarayan said she lagged behind other provisionally selected candidates by just one second in 100 metre sprint. As a result, she was not selected for interview. Hence, she filed the petition challenging the rejection.

The bench said, "We do not think that in the physical endurance test, a difference of 1.11 seconds should come in the way of the petitioner in being considered for recruitment. She will have to meet the bench mark of recruitment process, but the case cannot be knocked out in the middle.

Additional advocate general P.H. Arvindh Pandian said no other transgender had applied for the post. He said that two other transgenders were

already working as police constables and the petitioner would be the third one.

It may be noted that the two transgenders serving as police constables were recruited as female and later became transgenders.