Hon’ble Supreme Court of India has pronounced a landmark decision where it has quashed the decision of Centre Government of granting Other Backwards Classes i.e. OBC status to the Jat Community. The Court has simultaneously decided that the basis of deciding the backwardness of Community should only be a ‘caste’. The Central Government was required by the Court to consider the backwardness which is being newly emerging, to decide the OBC list by relying upon the Transgender community’s case.
A legal status was granted to the Third-gender by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its another judgement on last April and recognized a right as to expression and determination of gender. On an Public Interest Litigation filed by NALSA ‘The National Legal Services Authority’ the Court on 15th of April, 2014 has issued several directions to the Centre Government as well as State Governments including the one which is regarding treating ‘Transgender’ people as backward both socially and educationally and provide them reservation on that basis and cover under OBC category as said by Tripti Tandon, a Deputy Director, Lawyers collective.
According to the Transgender Activist and Founder of Sahoodari Foundation, Kalki Subramaniam from the State of Tamil Nadu State, “the community has been waiting for some action to be taken since the April 2014 decision”. Also Kalki said that, Transgenders should be given benefits of Other Backward Classes- OBC reservations irrespective of their caste as many of them are migrants and shifted from one to another place also are runaways and school dropouts and do not have community or educational certificates of any kind.
Similarly, there is very low level of literary in the community i.e. just about 46 per cent and also there is very low employed in the community. Transgender people are generally not been taken as respected ones in the families or society as such they educational, social, occupational, etc. backgrounds are very low as stated by Amitava Sarkar, Transgender Activist.
The Founder of Sahodaran, Chennai Sunil Menon said that the policy of reservation should be based on how the community is economically disempowered? So that the Community can come up to avail opportunities. He further said, “The Government has to look at the basic income level, housing access to opportunity, etc. while including a community under Other Backward Classes”.
by Faim Khalilkhan Pathan.