Transgender persons to be appointed as cops in every district of Bihar

Bihar will soon recruit transgender persons as police sub-inspectors and constables. According to an affidavit submitted by the Nitish Kumar regime in the Patna High Court, the State government will post a sub-inspector and four constables in each of the 38 districts in Bihar from the transgender community.

A direction in this regard has been issued to the Bihar Police Subordinate Selection Commission (BPSSC) and Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) to make provisions for recruitment of transgender persons whenever the examinations for sub-inspectors and constables are held in the near future.

The move comes after a petition was filed by an activist Veera Yadav in 2020 in which it was said that people from the transgender community were not being appointed in the police department as there was no separate column for their gender in the recruitment form.

According to the 2011 census, Bihar, with a population of around 11 crore, has 40,827 transgender persons. The State Government, in its affidavit submitted to the Patna HC Chief Justice Sanjoy Karol, said that it would create a separate squad of members from the transgender community if their population was found to be higher in the next census.

The Nitish regime, last month, had paved the way for appointment of people from the transgender community as cops when it decided on January 16 that for every 500 appointments of constables and sub-inspectors, one transgender should be appointed as a cop.

The state government, sources said, is likely to issue notification for the appointment of 10,000 cops in the Bihar soon. The transgender persons will, however, not be given any relaxation in physical test or written examination.