OHRC recommends 3rd gender option for govt jobs

Bhubaneswar: In a significant order, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has recommended that the State government consider the inclusion of “Third Gender/Transgender” as a gender option in government job applications.

It has also recommended making at least 1 per cent horizontal reservation for them and directing all recruiting boards and authorities, including the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC), to implement the same. The Commission issued the recommendations while hearing a plea filed by one Sony Sil, a transgender from Cuttack, on January 22. Sil, in the complaint, alleged discrimination and violation of their fundamental rights due to the non-inclusion of the “Third Gender/Transgender” category in the application form for the ensuing Odisha Combined Civil Services examination conducted by the OPSC.

“The case of the complainant is that omission of the 'Third Gender/Transgender' in the online application form prevents the 'Third Gender/Transgender', like the complainant, from applying and participating in the examination on an equal footing