Trans people of the country are demanding "horizontal reservation" for them. The demand was demonstrated in a peaceful protest by the trans community last year in the month of April, near the Kalaignar Karunanidhi Memorial of Chennai. It was Grace Banu, a Dalit trans activist, who led the protests However, the protestors were forcefully detained and shoved by the police. Similar protests were held in Mumbai and Delhi as well for the demand for horizontal reservations. What exactly are horizontal reservations? Here we explain every bit of the detail.
What is meant by "horizontal reservations"?
The horizontal reservation is a type of reservation that is provided across all caste categories. In order words, such reservations are given within each category, namely the General Category, Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Other Backward Classes.
With a horizontal reservation, a percentage of the General seats, the ST seats, the SC seats, and the OBC seats would actually be reserved for the trans people in areas of employment and education.
As per Grace Banu, the concept of horizontal reservation is not a novel one. In fact, horizontal reservations are offered to people with disability and women across all the caste categories, namely the general, SC, ST, and OBC. Banu argues that a lack of horizontal reservation actually means a denial of opportunities to the transgender community.
It was in the year 2021 when Karnataka proved to be the only and the very first state in the country to offer horizontal reservation of 1 percent to transgender people in the area of employment for civil services posts. This reservation implies that a minimum of 1 percent of seats are guaranteed and will be reserved for transgender people in the employment for civil services positions in each caste category.
What comes as a surprise is the fact that the transgender community of the country is already provided with a vertical reservation, but the community is still demanding a horizontal community. Why so?
Why is a vertical reservation not enough for the trans community?
In the year 2014 came the NALSA judgment which said that the trans community is going to be provided with reservations. In the year 2017, the government of Tamil Nadu listed the trans people in a special category, known as the "Most Backward Class", abbreviated as the MBC. Banu explains that this category is similar to the OBC category.
However, Banu argues that the Most Backward Class is seen as a distinct vertical category. The problem here is that in case a Dalit trans person gets a reservation within the category of the Most Backward Class, the person will be denied a reservation of the SC category, or vice-versa.
Comments
All Comments (0)
Join the conversation