CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Police have issued orders to include transgenders in its latest recruitment of over 13,000 police constables in the state. In an admirable move, the force have also been allowed to apply as male, female, or the third gender. India's first transgender sub-inspector to join the police force as a sub-inspector, was Prithika Yasini, in February.
With the move, TN would be the first state to allow the community to join the force. "This is the first time that we will be formally inducting them in the police department. The notification is expected in a month and the recruitment completed by December," a senior police officer said. Many from the community have tried to join the police over the years but couldn't due to a lack of provision for the third gender. One candidate who did manage to join, was later found to be a member of the trans community during a routine medical examination, and was dismissed in 2013.
The appointment came after Madras high court ordered the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board to include transgenders under a 'third category'. In 2014, the Supreme Court had ruled that the transgender community must be recognised as the third sex in all government documents, and even get reservation under Other Backward Caste.
Encouraging things are happening elsewhere in India as well. A couple of months ago, Kochi Metro announced that it would employ, although not directly, transgender people in housekeeping, crowd management and customer care. Reportedly, the suggestion came from the local police, which not long ago clashed with some transgender activists on the streets. Similarly, last year, a college in West Bengal appointed a transgender person as its principal, which was another first in the country.
