Movement to get horizontal quota for transgender people

Subject : Social Issue / Governance

Concept :

The central government revealed in a reply in Parliament that it is not considering any proposal to provide quotas to trans people.
This move has been widely criticized by activists, scholars and lawyer fighting for the rights of transgenders.

Background

Nearly nine years after the Supreme Court’s landmark National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) decision, which recognized transgender persons as a third gender and issued directions to protect their rights and dignity, public education for trans people,the movement to secure horizontal reservation and employment is gathering momentum.
It includes a legal battle that seeks to modify a part of the landmark 2014 judgement.
The judgment directed the central and state governments to provide “all forms of reservation” to transgender people in admission to educational institutions and employment, but still not enforced.
But since the judgment also calls for trans people to be treated as ‘socially and educationally backward classes’, which runs the risk of lumping them with the OBCs, the community is also demanding that separate trans reservations be ensured in all categories.

About Horizontal Reservation:

Horizontal Reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries such as women, veterans, the transgender community, and individuals with disabilities, cutting through the vertical categories.
The percentage of reservation allotted to Horizontal reservation categories should be adjusted against percentage of SC/ST/ OBC and General categories in vertical reservation.
It is also called as Interlocking reservation.
Article 15(3) allows protective discrimination in favour of women.

Application of Reservations:

The horizontal quota is applied separately to each vertical category, and not across the board.
For example, if women have 50% horizontal quota, then half of the selected candidates will have to necessarily be women in each vertical quota category i.e., half of all selected Scheduled Caste candidates will have to be women, half of the unreserved or general category will have to be women, and so on.