Will Maharashtra See Transgender Donning Khaki? Mumbai Police Scanning Applications for Constable Post

Nikita Mukhyadal works as a security guard at the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation but she yearned to go a step further and don the uniform for a longer period of time: this is when she decided to apply for the position of a constable in the state police force.

But when she went to fill out the form, she realised that there was no option to identify as a transgender. Nikita, who was earlier Nitin Mukhyadal, underwent an operation after she realised that she wanted to identify as a woman.

Like Nikita, 73 other members from the transgender community have applied for the mega recruitment drive by the Maharashtra police. Recruitment is for the posts of constables and drivers.

Mumbai Police has accepted 13 applications for both positions, which are undergoing scrutiny. While one person from the community has qualified for a skills test for the position of a driver, those who have applied for the position of constable are yet to get their results, which will be out by the end of the month.

In March, the Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court that it will direct all its departments to include the option of “third gender” for transgender persons to apply for jobs and at educational institutions. This will also include physical standards for transgenders for the posts of constables and drivers.

But the recruitment for transgender persons is being held on the basis of self-identification, under which those applying for the position have to declare if they identify as “trans male” or “trans female”. Following this examination criteria, marking and selection will take place at par with those in the “open category”.

While Mumbai Police has not yet completed its scrutiny process, results for both rounds have been completed for other forces. Some transgender candidates believe that it was unfair for them to be competing in the open category, as it was bound to weaken their chances of being selected.

According to the NALSA judgement of the Supreme Court, transgender persons were declared as the “third gender” while the court also affirmed that the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution will be equally applicable to the community.

The court had also held that because transgender persons were treated as socially and economically backward, they will be granted reservation in admissions to educational institutions and jobs.

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