First transgender police recruited in India

In a significant first, Chhattisgarh state police have recruited 13 transgender people as constables, a senior police official said after the Constable Recruitment examination results came out on Monday, reports the Hindustan Times.

“The results of the constable recruitment examination are out, and I congratulate everyone who qualified. We have recruited transgender people as constables for the first time and I personally congratulate them,” said Director-General of Police, Chhattisgarh, DM Awasthi.

Until now, only two transgender police personnel had ever been recruited in India – one in Tamil Nadu, another in Rajasthan.

The selected candidates were elated over the opportunity given to them.

“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,” said Krishna Tandi, one of the selected transgenders.

Komal Sahu, another successful candidate, called it the biggest day of her life, saying, “I never thought that I would get this job of respect, but it has happened.”

In 2014, the Supreme Court recognised the transgender community as a third gender along with male and female and ruled that they have equal privileges under the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution.

In 2017, the Chhattisgarh police decided to include third gender in their recruitment exam. The force is now composed of 1,736 male, 289 female and 13 transgender people, an official at police headquarters said.

In January, the Times of India reported that the Bihar government has also recently decided to recruit transgenders into the police force.