Karnataka: Despite reservation, transgender teachers will take time to enter schools

NEW DELHI : Karnataka has decided to reserve one percent teaching and non-teaching posts in schools for transgender people and in February, published the draft recruitment rules. With the finalisation of these Karnataka Education Department Services Rules, the policy will be in place. Implementation, not so much.

Activists who work with the community say there is a long way to go before the representation of its members grows in schools. Decades of marginalisation and exclusion from education mean that there may be very few transgender people who meet the eligibility criteria for teaching.

From requiring a certificate from the district magistrate to prove their identity to rejection of school certificates with their old names – the community faces many hurdles. The few who do manage to cross them and land government jobs will likely have to face discrimination in their work environment as well.

“There are many challenges. We are trying to set up a helpline for transgender people who are interested in the job so that they can reach out for support in filling the forms. In terms of how the reservation will work it is difficult to say now, similar to other reservations it might take a couple of years to see how it has gone. But we have our task cut out,” said Rajesh Srivastava, executive director of Sangama, an organization working for the rights of sexual minorites.

Long battle

For the community, it has been a long battle for rights and opportunities. Transgender women and men always found it difficult to find jobs throughout the country due to unabashed discrimination. Many even resort to begging and sex work to make ends meet.

The legal foundation for giving them justice was only formed recently.

In 2014, the Supreme Court pronounced a landmark judgement which recognised transgender people as the “third gender” and affirmed their fundamental rights. Following this judgement, the Karnataka government became one of the first states to bring out a transgender policy with the Karnataka State Policy on Transgenders 2017.

It did not immediately materialise into anything.

“After that (2014 judgement) we were waiting for so long. Even in the Karnataka Transgender Policy in 2017, it was said that jobs have to be provided. But when and how will they provide? This question remained,” said Uma, founder of Jeeva, an organisation that works for transgender rights. Uma was also a member of the panel which wrote the policy.

In late 2020, Sangama filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court, asking for a separate category for transgender candidates in government recruitment.

In 2021, Uma filed an impleadment application along with the petition filed by Sangama, asking for five percent reservation for transgender people.

The High Court ruled in their favour. Following the Karnataka High Court’s directions, the Karnataka Civil Services (General Recruitment)) Rules were amended in July 2021 to give one percent reservation to the group.

“If there is reservation, they will have to give job opportunities. Now, we have finally got notification from the government side. I’m very thankful to the Karnataka High Court and the Karnataka government since they came forward to file the notification,” said Uma.

Education

According to transgender activists, although there are some people eligible for these posts, more vacancies are needed at a lower level of qualification.

“Another department had also given reservation but they require engineering as a qualification. We don’t have many educated people in our community. When they announce reservations for engineers and assistant professors, we need that but there is more need for people with Class 10 and Class 12 education,” said Uma.

“There are people with degrees also. But the majority have Class 10, 11 and 12 as qualifications,” said Uma.

The draft notification does not relax the eligibility criteria for transgender people and in most cases minimum eligibility and qualifications are decided centrally.

Activists said that due to the stigma and discrimination that transgender people face, it is difficult for them to pursue higher education, although there are many that have fought through to get degrees.

“When I was studying. My friends used to regularly tease me...Growing up, I was not comfortable with boys but only with girls. There was a lot of teasing due to this. Even my family and neighbours discriminated against me,” said Uma.

“During that time, in our mind, we are also confused as to who we are, and why people are teasing us. We feel unnatural in the society. Our mind gets diverted to these and we can’t focus on education,” said Uma.

“By the time we meet our community members, we are not bothered about education and we run away from our homes and engage in the community activities whether it is sex work or begging. That is why our education is discontinued,” said Uma.

Documentation

Another hurdle lies in the paperwork.

According to the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules 2020, transgender persons have to get a certificate from the district magistrate. This certificate is a necessary requirement while applying for jobs under
this quota.

The central government even has a website through which transgender people will be provided with identity cards. However, activists and many members of the community see this as a violation of their rights.

“People are questioning this decision. They are saying who is the magistrate to determine my gender. It is also a human rights violation,” said Uma. “This happened for the police recruitment as well. They called for two people and they had asked for a transgender ID card. Some people had a problem with this as they felt it was a violation of their rights.”

The 2014 Supreme Court judgement had only required self-identification.

Activists also said that finding the right documentation is a major hurdle. “Documentation is the biggest problem. All the documents are in the earlier male name,” said Uma. The process of changing names in the school board marksheets and birth certificates is laborious and trussed up in bureaucratic red tape.

Age limit is another problem. When the police department issued reservations for transgender people, they required someone within the age group of 21 to 28, which left only a few eligible people, activists said. The same story of marginalisation and discrimination means the academic progress of members of this community is often interrupted and they complete their programmes late, when they are well past the age-limit for some of the jobs.

Sensitization

Activists said that extensive sensitization programmes need to be conducted in government offices for the reservation to have any effect.

“In government departments there should be sensitization and awareness among colleagues. They have to welcome the transgender people for the long term,” said Srivastava.

Kerala was the first state in the country to introduce a transgender policy after the 2014 judgement. In 2017, the state announced that more than 40 transgender people were employed in the Kochi metro. By the end of the year, most of them had quit due to discrimination and harassment.

“We’ll have to do some work. The government also needs to work on sensitization. If they just announce reservations, that is not fulfilling anything. They have to create awareness about the community among co-workers,” said Uma.

Activists also said that even after the amendment to recruitment rules in 2017, many departments are yet to announce the reservations.

“There should be other job opportunities as well. Other departments also should come forward and give reservations. All departments should come forward. Many offices must be busy with their day to day work to bother about the reservations. The department of women and child development should take the initiative,” said Uma.