As many as 26 transgenders have submitted online applications for selection in the rank of Sub-Inspectors (SIs) in the mega recruitment drive initiated by the Odisha police department recently.
A total of 132496 candidates have submitted their applications for the recruitment through online mode, out of which 97506 are male. Similarly, 34964 applicants are women, a press circular released by Odisha Police stated.
As per the notification, a total of 29710 applicants are from the SC category while 24193 candidates are in the ST group. The maximum percentage of aspirants are from SEBC section under which 52274 candidates have made their candidature to take part in the recruitment drive. Likewise, 26319 candidates from the Unreserved category have also applied for the selection test.
The State Police has clarified that the cumulative number of candidates applied for the post may increase marginally after re-concillation of payment of examination fees.
It may be noted here that this is for the first time the Odisha government has allowed transgenders to take up roles in the Police department. By doing so, Odisha has become only the second state in the country after Tamil Nadu to allow recruitment of Transgenders to Police Sub-inspector rank.
The State police had invited applications to recruit 477 police personnel in Sub-Inspector rank on June 22 and the last date for submission of applications had been fixed for July 15. According to the notification, the written exams for the post is likely to be conducted between August 6 and 16 (tentative dates).