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In an ongoing situation to the classification of transgender persons arsenic a abstracted “community” wrong the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list, information from the Rajasthan Government has present shown that successful the 2 years of accommodating transgender radical successful the preservation matrix successful this manner, nary of them had been brought into authorities services.
The State authorities has submitted information to a Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, which is proceeding a situation to this classification of transgender persons. The authorities had issued a circular adding “transgender” arsenic an introduction successful its existing database of OBCs successful January 2023, arguing that this satisfied the Supreme Court’s directions successful the 2014 NALSA lawsuit that they should beryllium considered for reservation.
Interpreting 2014 verdict
The situation to this classification, filed by transwoman constable Ganga Kumari, argued that specified an mentation of the Supreme Court’s directions successful the 2014 judgement would not beryllium correct, stressing that this classification would ne'er beryllium capable to relationship for transgender radical who mightiness not beryllium from an OBC community, alternatively seeking horizontal preservation for transgenders.
The information submitted by the Rajasthan government’s Social Justice and Empowerment Department this week showed that the State Public Service Commission and the Staff Selection Board had unneurotic advertised astir 15,000 vacancies from January 2023 onward.
Against these, a full of 91 transgender candidates had applied; however, lone 22 of them could use nether the class created for transgender radical wrong the vertical quota for OBCs, arsenic lone 22 belonged to OBC communities. The information further showed that transgender applicants came from assorted backgrounds of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Economically Weaker Sections, and the General class communities.
Court sought dataset
While proceeding this lawsuit past year, a Bench of Justices Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Anuroop Singh had, successful November 2025, asked the Rajasthan authorities to supply information connected however galore transgender people, who had been fixed the payment of being accommodated successful the OBC list, had really been recruited into authorities service. In response, the authorities submitted the above-mentioned dataset.
The dataset showed that the maximum fig of transgender applicants belonged to the General category, nether which 39 candidates had applied. Apart from this, 19 of the transgender applicants belonged to Scheduled Tribes, and 7 were from Scheduled Castes, with 4 candidates falling nether EWS category.
Advocate Vivek Mathur, starring the practice of the petitioner successful the Rajasthan case, told The Hindu, “This information goes to amusement that it means thing successful the strategy of quotas to see transgender radical arsenic an introduction successful OBC lists, precisely because, arsenic this information showed, trans candidates ended up competing successful their respective caste categories. Maybe if these 91 candidates had competed against each other, it would person been likelier for astatine slightest immoderate to person been selected.”
Ever since the 2014 NALSA judgement, a bony of contention successful providing preservation for transgender radical has been the direction’s interpretation. The NALSA judgement, successful recognising the favoritism faced by the community, directed that they beryllium “treated as” socially and educationally backward for the intent of reservations.
One mentation of this has been that of Rajasthan, and successful different lawsuit successful Madhya Pradesh, wherever this was seen arsenic creating an introduction wrong the existing OBC list. And yet, different mentation of this direction, arsenic argued successful courts by activists, is that it calls for treating transgender persons arsenic a abstracted class connected par with socially and educationally backward classes, and not wrong them, which has been structured arsenic horizontal reservation.
In 2023, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a petition seeking a clarification of this constituent specifically, leaving it unfastened for petitioners to attack courts. But, successful abstracted cases, some the Karnataka High Court (2021) and the Madras High Court (2024) person accepted the arguments for horizontal reservation, enabling a percent of quotas for transgender radical wrong each existing class of SC, ST, OBC, EWS, and General.
