NEW DELHI: The CISF, the paramilitary force that guards over 60 airports in the country and the Delhi Metro, has sought more time to reply to the government on whether transgenders can be recruited as its combat officers, officials said on Saturday.
In a first-of-its-kind move, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had recently asked for “comments” on the issue from the five paramilitary or Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) so that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) can be intimated whether or not to include the “transgender” category in the soon-to-be published notification for this year’s CAPFs’ Assistant Commandants (ACs) exams.
The AC is the entry-level officer rank in the five CAPFs — Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
BSF, ITBP, SSB and CRPF have sent their comments to the ministry, stating that they are ready to take transgenders as officers as they follow the principle of “gender neutrality”. These forces have also asked their training establishments to obtain their own copies of a recently-enacted legislation for transgenders and the related DoPT guidelines for a better understanding of the new law, the officials said.
The CISF said it wants to “discuss the issue in detail” within itself, especially with its field commanders. (PTI)
