In a first, the Chhattisgarh police recruited 13 transgender people as constables in four districts of the state, a senior police official said after the Chhattisgarh Constable Recruitment examination results for 2019-20 came out on Monday.
Out of these 13, nine were recruited from Raipur range and 20 people had appeared for the exam.
“The results of the constable recruitment examination are out, and I congratulate everyone who qualified the examination. We have also recruited transgender people as constable for the first time and I personally congratulate them,” said Director General of Police, Chhattisgarh, DM Awasthi.
Until now, only two transgender police personnel were recruited in India — one in Tamil Nadu, another in Rajasthan. The Bihar government has recently decided to recruit transgenders in the police force.
The selected candidates were elated over the opportunity.
"I am very happy today… I have no words to express my happiness. I and all my colleagues worked very hard for this exam. It was a rare opportunity for us which could change our lives, so everyone worked hard day and night. Krishna Tandi, a transgender who got selected.
Komal Sahu, another successful candidate, called it the biggest day of her life.
{{/usCountry}}Komal Sahu, another successful candidate, called it the biggest day of her life.
{{/usCountry}}“I never thought that I would get the job of respect but it happened,” she added.
In 2014, the Supreme Court recognised transgender community as a third gender along with male and female and ruled that they have equal privilege over the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.
In 2017, the Chhattisgarh police decided to include third gender in their recruitment exam.
The examination exercise was finally completed in 2019-20. Total 2038 constables were recruited in the state which include 1736 male, 289 female and total 13 transgender people, an official of police headquarters Raipur said.
The Kinnar Samaj and Mitwa Committee of Chhattisgarh have thanked the Chhattisgarh government for giving the opportunity to the committee.
Transgender rights activist and Vidya Rajput, Chairperson of Mitwa Samiti, congratulated those who got selected in the exam.