Trans people say that government departments don’t have eligibility guideline that suit them.
One percent reservation policy in providing jobs for transgenders is not helping the trans community in the state as the guidelines to implement this policy have not been set up yet. The transgender community wants the Department for Women and Child Welfare to set up separate guidelines to be followed by authorities responsible for recruiting transgenders. They feel that this will benefit a lot of transgender people.
Anusha, Development Inspector from the Department of Women and Child Welfare said that most transgender people who apply for jobs don’t even have the basic documents required. She said, “The trans people have two different names, one is before gender transition and other is after the gender transition. So, they have documents under two different names for a single person.” That is a hurdle to get jobs, she said.
Sana Suman, a trans woman who applied for a government job said that she completed her schooling before transition so, her Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) has a different name, while her other education certificates which she completed after transition have a different name. Due to this reason, she couldn’t get the job.
She said that the government didn’t do anything so far for their community. “If the government could follow a separate guideline for our community alone in providing jobs, then it would help us,” she added.
Sana said that government jobs will bring them some social security and dignity in the society.
The Karnataka government in 2021 provided one percent reservation for transgenders in all government services. It also drafted Karnataka State Policy on Transgenders in 2017 which includes the employment of transgenders.
Uma, a trans woman said, “When the trans community came to know about this reservation, a lot of transgender persons applied for it. But only very few trans people got the job offer.” She added that this was because they did not have proper documents to submit when the job was offered to them.
She said, “When applying for jobs, the trans people are not clear about what documents they have to submit.”
Uma also mentioned an incident about her friend who was offered a teaching job. She said, “When my friend was offered a job, the authorities were asking her for a family tree certificate but she didn’t have one.” She said that her friend couldn’t get that certificate as her family didn’t accept her after transition.
Mallu, a coordinator from Karnataka Sexual Minorities Forum said, “There are no proper guidelines followed while offering jobs to trans people.” She said that there is no clarity within the departments. “If the police department is recruiting trans people, they don’t have clear eligibility guidelines for trans people,” she said.
She added if the government takes measures to accept the education certificates of trans people though they have different names on them, it would help their community in getting a lot of opportunities.
Prashanth, a professor at the Women Studies department of Bangalore University said that this reservation policy did not benefit the trans people. He said, “Most trans people are dropouts and don’t complete their education.” He said that the government has to take necessary measures to ensure that they are not missing any social welfare benefits because of missing documents.
He added that according to the Karnataka transgender policy the government authorities have to take measures to resolve the issues in certification. “This reservation policy in providing jobs will be effective only when there is proper support from the government,” he said. “Reservation in education and employment will definitely help them to overcome their struggles,” he added.
