Recruitment of transgenders starts in police as Home Deptt frames physical test criteria

By Dheeraj Fartode

Acting on the directives of Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra Home Department has fixed a physical test criteria for transgenders, paving the way for their recruitment in the State police on Tuesday. The transgender persons will have to decide their self-identified gender as male, female or as third gender for the test. The physical test criteria was decided on the basis of a report submitted by the State Government-appointed six-member panel headed by Sanjay Kumar, Director General (Training and Special Squads). Principal Secretary (Home), Director of Health, Joint Secretary Law and Judiciary Department and two invitee doctors including a psychologist were among the members of the committee.

It may be mentioned here that recruitment for 18,331 posts of constables was undertaken by Maharashtra Police. Candidates are undergoing multiple fitness tests. For men, 1,600 metres running is compulsory, while women must run 800 metres. In shot-put, 8 kg weight is fixed for men while 4 kg for women. In 100 metres running, the timing for the men is lower as compared to the women. In physical tests, height is a criterion for the women candidates while height, weight and chest measurement is taken into consideration for male candidates.

As per the new rules, for self-identified female transgender, the height of the candidate should not be less than 158 centimetres, while for self-identified male transgender, height shall not be less than 165 centimetres. Chest criteria will not be considered for the transgender candidates. In the physical test, 1,600 metres and 100 metres running with shot-put with a weight of 8 kg is fixed for male transgenders while running of 800 metres and 100 metres with shot-put with a weight of 4 kg is decided for female transgenders. In Nagpur Rural Police, one transgender candidate applied for the post of constable, while four applications were received at Nagpur City Police.