Eunuchs move SC seeking quota in jobs, legislature

Accusing successive Govts of neglecting their interests, eunuchs have moved the Supreme Court seeking their education, social and political rehabilitation, including reservation of seats in Parliament, state assemblies and legislative councils.

Accusing successive governments of neglecting their interests, eunuchs have moved the Supreme Court seeking their education, social and political rehabilitation, including reservation of seats in Parliament, state assemblies and legislative councils.

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The petition filed by Sonam Singh, an eunuch from Rajasthan has sought a direction to the Union Government to constitute a National Kinner Ayog or Commission to take up the rehabilitation of the neglected population by providing them reservation in jobs, education and Parliament, assemblies and legislative councils.

In a petition filed through counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Sonam Singh, who identifies herself as a woman, regretted that even the Election Commission has never decided the gender category of eunuchs and has been arbitrarily treating them as female/male without any reasonable or scientific basis.

Stating that even 60 years after independence there was no data in the country to estimate eunuch population, she submitted that atleast 15 lakh eunuchs were physically challenged and were left to fend for themselves by begging.