The Chhattisgarh police inducted 13 transgender individuals into the rank of constable across four districts of the state, marking the largest-ever recruitment of transgender people into the police force in India.
The results of the Chhattisgarh Constable Recruitment exams, which came out on Monday, also placed an additional two transgender individuals on a waiting list.
Until now, only two transgender people had been recruited into any In dian police force — K. Prithika Yashini, who was appointed as a sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu in 2017, and Ganga Kumari, who was inducted into the Rajasthan police as a constable that same year.
Prior to the induction, Chattisgarh conducted workshops to train transgender people and to facilitate applications from them, reportedly being the first state in India to do so.
Vidhya Rajput, a transgender activist from Chhattisgarh, had pushed for the recruitment of transgender candidates in the state in 2017, emphasizing that being a part of the police could be a step towards dignity for some members of the community.
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But there were several indefinite, administrative delays in announcing the exam results, causing hardship to applicants. During this time, one applicant’s transgender identity was outed to her family due to coverage of the recruitment drive in the local media.
However, she says the experience strengthened her resolve. “When I wear a uniform somewhere, even my parents will feel that I have a capability and a status. I can go home and forcefully stay. It is power. I cannot give this up,” Tanushree Sahu, who was beaten by her brother and thrown out of her familial home after being outed, told The New York Times.
The candidates say they are happy the results for the 2019-2020 selection process have finally been declared. “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,” one of the selected transgender constable candidates told The Hindustan Times.
