Express News Service
RANCHI: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the transgender community in Jharkhand have been included in the category of Other Backward Caste (OBC) so that they can also avail the benefits of reservation in government jobs.
The Jharkhand Cabinet gave its approval for the same along with 34 other proposals on Wednesday. In addition to that, the trans persons will also be provided benefits of the State Social Security Scheme under which they will be given a pension of Rs 1,000 per month.
According to the Department of Women, Child Development and Social Security (WCDSS), the population of transgender persons was around 11,900 in Jharkhand in 2011, which currently would be nearly 14,000. According to Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dedel, those transgender who are not covered under any other category for reservation will be included in the OBC category at number 46 in the list.
“The proposal has two parts, firstly, the trans persons should be declared as third gender, and secondly, those trans persons who are not covered under any other category for reservation, should be included in the OBC category at serial number 46 in the list,” said Dadel.
If they already are covered under any other category like ST/SC, or Extremely Backward Class and are already getting any kind of reservation, then they will not qualify for the same, she added.
“However, if they belong to unreserved category or from any unknown category, then they will get reservation under Other Backward Caste,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
In another proposal approved by the State Cabinet belonging to the Women, Child and Social Welfare Department, the trans persons will also get Rs 1,000 as a pension under the State Social Security Scheme. Dadel further added that the State Government has also decided to give benefits of the cycle scheme to the students in the state, pending for a long time.
“All students belonging to ST/SC, OBC and minority category studying in class 8 during the financial year 2020-2021 to 2022-2023 will be given the cash amount directly to their bank accounts through DBT for purchasing bicycles,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
Whereas the process of purchasing bicycles for the students of the current batch (2023- 2024) and the next batch (2024 – 2025) will be done through tender, she added.
The State Cabinet also gave its approval to increase the compensation given to government employees who get injured in violence or accidents during election duty.
Now assistance amount of up to 7.5 lakh will be given to them and the amount will be doubled if someone is injured or becomes disabled in Maoist violence.
