Seats in the transgender quota have remained empty since 2014 in the Bangalore University.
Students applying to Bangalore University (BU) urge it to convert the transgender quota seats which have remained vacant since 2014 to the general quota.
Anju, an applicant of the Bangalore University said, “I applied to the Bangalore University last year and I passed the entrance exam too, but because of the limited number of general quota seats I didn’t get admission in the university.”
She also said that the transgender quota which is empty should be converted to the general quota because, every empty seat is a loss of opportunity for other applicants. If there is no transgender student applied to the university it should be converted to general merit quota so that another person will get the opportunity.
However, Sree Kumar, a faculty member said “The transgender quota was started in 2014 and it cannot be converted to the general quota, it is not the university’s fault that no one is applying under the quota.” He said that no one has applied under the quota since it began.
According to the Right of Transgender Persons Act 2014, the government should reserve two percent of seats in each college.
Vedha, a transgender activist said “The quota reserved for the transgender community should be given to them only, the reason for the empty seats are the attitude of people towards the transgender community. The seats cannot be added to any other quota, there is a two percent reservation for the transgender community as per the law.”
She added that “There are people from the transgender community who wish to go for higher studies but, the isolation they experience from the society pull them back.”
