Telangana HC orders quota for third gender in state govt recruitment

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has mandated that the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPSC) and the Labour, Employment, and Training departments incorporate reservations for transgender individuals under the third gender category in their recruitment processes, alongside existing caste-based reservations.

This ruling came from a bench comprising Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice N Rajeshwar Rao, who were addressing a petition filed by Bhumibathula Edukondalu, a third-gender individual.

The petition challenged Rule 22 of the Telangana State and Subordinate Rules, 1996, which outlines special reservations but fails to include provisions for the third gender category.

The petitioner contended that recruitment agencies such as TGPSC and the State Labour and Employment departments have neglected to implement reservations for the third gender, despite directives from the Supreme Court in the National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India case and earlier orders from the Telangana High Court.

These directives require the state to establish administrative measures to ensure reservations for transgender individuals in education and public employment.

The petitioner argued for the adoption of horizontal reservations within existing caste-based quotas to accommodate the third gender. In response to these arguments, the court instructed TGSPSC to include reservations for the petitioner in job notifications, in addition to their designated category quota.

The court has postponed the matter for further hearings, along with other related petitions, to continue deliberations on this matter.