Chennai: In a time when gender fluidity and rights are being discussed openly, three distressed transgender women who have been ignored in applications to government jobs have written letters to President Ram Nath Kovind slamming the system for not treating them equally. The letter they have written to the first citizen of the country demanding their citizenship be cancelled has created ripples in the transgender community and has thrown the spotlight on their plights.
Demanding their citizenship be cancelled and the country's denial of their basic human rights, R. Anushri, K. Aradhana and J. Kaviya, wrote, “I, a transwoman, am also a citizen of this country. I also pay my taxes for all that I enjoy in this country. As a community, we have not got our basic rights until today. The Transgender Bill has not been passed in Parliament either. I do not want to live in this country where I enjoy no rights. Kindly cancel my citizenship.”
Kaviya, who is an engineer, appeared and cleared the TNUSR sub inspector police exam this year, but was not called back. “Even though I'm worthy and deserving of the job, just because I am a trans woman and since the government has no reservation for trans people in place, I am being ignored,” says Kaviya in a Facebook video.
Anushri, who graduated with first-class results in engineering and has attempted the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission's examinations since 2014, and passed the Group 2 exam last year, did not receive a posting. So she filed a case in April this year. She believes that she isn't being given a government job because of her gender.
Aradhana who was initially denied even a Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment (TNUSR) posting filed a case and even though the court directed the government to allow Aradhana to appear for her exams, her progress was stalled in the next level when she did not hear back from TNUSR. She is yet to be called back while those who took the exams with her are being trained already.
The Madras High Court in 2017 directed the state government to issue guidelines on the reservation in employment of transgender persons in the state, but the state is yet to respond.
