Eunuch moves SC for quota

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a eunuch from Rajasthan moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to reserve seats for kinnars in local bodies, assemblies and Parliament, reports Satya Prakash.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, a eunuch from Rajasthan moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission (EC) to reserve seats for kinnars in local bodies, assemblies and Parliament.

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Petitioner Sonam Singh, a resident of Seeta Colony, Kekri in Ajmer, accused successive governments of neglecting eunuchs’ interests and demanded special treatment like the SC, ST, Minorities/Women/Socially & Educationally Backward Classes/Physically Challenged categories in education and jobs.

The petition, filed through advocate Santosh Tripathi, sought setting up of a National Commission for Eunuchs for their welfare.

Sonam, who identifies herself as a woman, regretted that the EC never decided the gender category of eunuchs and has been arbitrarily treating them as female or male without any scientific basis.

Advocate Vishwanath Chaturvedi, who drafted the petition, said even after 60 years of independence no data regarding eunuch population is available.

Claiming at least 15 lakh eunuchs were physically challenged and had to beg to support themselves, the petitioner contended it as violation of several constitutionally guaranteed rights.