Kathmandu, Jan 30: Lumbini Province has ensured reservation for the sexual and gender minority communities in civil service becoming the first province to do so.
The Act formulated to manage the formation, operation and conditions of service of the Province Civil Service that has provided the reservation for the communities passed by the Lumbini Province Assembly has been published in the National Gazette. The Act has ensured one percent reservation for the communities.
According to the special provisions related to filling posts in the Act, 49 percent of the positions to be filled through open competition to make the province civil service inclusive should be allocated, and that percentage should be considered as 100 percent.
According to the provisions, 15 percent of Khas Arya women has been ensured in civil service, nine percent of women (indigenous nationalities) and 9 percent of men, and eight percent of Madhesi women and eight percent of men. Similarly, the representation of eight percent of Dalit (hill and Madhes) women and seven percent of men, seven percent of Tharu women and seven percent of men, 3.5 percent of poor Khas Arya women and 3.5 percent of men has been compulsorily ensured in civil service.
The Act has ensured, in civil service, the representation of 3.5 percent of Muslim women and 3.5 percent of men, 1.5 percent of disabled women and 1.5 percent of men, two percent of women (backward classes/regions, marginalized community) and two percent of men, and one percent of the sexual and gender minorities.
Third gender rights activist Aanik Rana, also president of Sahasi Kadam Nepal, an organisation working for the rights of the sexual and gender minorities should be thanked for the historic initiative.
Years of efforts to ensure representation of the communities in the civil service have finally been implemented, says elated Rana. “The number is small, the efforts of the Lumbini provincial government are commendable,” says Rana, “Thank you, Lumbini provincial provincial government for this positive step.”
It may be noted that the Supreme Court had given priority right to the writ petition filed by the sexual and gender minority community seeking government jobs.
It had issued an order in the name of the government asking it to submit a written response concerning the petition within 15 days through the Office of Attorney General.
Commenting on this, Sunil Babu Pant, Asia’s former first openly gay parliamentarian and executive director for Mayako Pahichan Nepal, an organisation advocating for the rights of the sexual and gender minorities, terms the move taken by by the province exemplary. “Let the central government and other provincial governments follow suit. This should also be implemented at the local level.”
According to the information in the Nepal Gazette, ‘gender and sexual minority’ means a person who has received an identity card relating to gender and sexual minority according to the existing law.
There are provisions that the sexual and gender minorities shall not be prevented from competing in more than one streams. A person applying for a post reserved for these communities must submit a specified document issued by the related body proving that they belong to the specified group along with the application form.
In the case of backward communities, the candidate should submit a document issued by the respective verifying that the candidate is a permanent resident of the same local level.
