In a first, Sindh Assembly passes bill to reserve job quota for transgenders

The Sindh Assembly has passed a bill reserving 0.5 per cent of positions in various provincial government offices for members of the transgender community.

Mukesh Kumar Chawla, the Sindh Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, introduced the bill in the House. After the bill was approved, the Sindh government became the first in the nation to set aside a job quota for the underrepresented transgender minority.

“The transgender people are a marginalised and vulnerable segment of our society. The history of transgender community in Pakistan is fraught with violence, socio-political exclusion, economic inequality and emotional insensitivity. In this respect, it is to empower and include such a vulnerable and weak community in the mainstream of the society. For this purpose, it has been decided to reserve a 0.5 per cent quota for transgenders.”

There are 10,418 transgender people in Pakistan as of the most recent census, which was conducted in 2017. Of them, 24 per cent reside in Sindh. Approximately 206 of the 41,000 open positions across all government departments, according to government authorities, will be filled by transgender people.