-The Hindu The case for reservations for women and transgender persons in State jobs and higher education The Bihar government recently announced 33% horizontal reservation for women in State engineering and medical colleges. While reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) is referred to as vertical reservation, horizontal reservation refers to the equal opportunity provided to other categories of beneficiaries, such as...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Blazing a trail through intricate government and judicial process, gritty transgender K Prithika Yashini has finally realized her dream of donning the uniform of a sub-inspector of police in Tamil Nadu police department. The Madras high court on Thursday declared that she was entitled to be appointed sub-inspector of police. Calling for creation of separate category to accommodate transgenders in employment, the judges further said: "We are...

-The Hindu Traditional hierarchies are too deeply entrenched to be reversed through one single measure; they need a concerted push, backed by strong will from different segments of society, including, but not confined to, politicians The rise of Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Dalit-Adivasi leaders in the political sphere is celebrated as India's "silent revolution." At the national level, this phenomenon has been especially marked since the early 1990s, leading to comments...

-The Times of India Put 50% cap on all reservations Affirmative action can work only in limited doses. It should not be used as a sledgehammer that rules out all other criteria of job selection. The 50% cap on reservations mandated by the Supreme Court earlier should be the absolute upper limit for all categories of reservations. Any relaxation of this upper limit would further dilute meritocracy in public services, impede good...

Quota for all elected posts in panchayats, mandals, ZPPs Decision by government on the issue to improve representation for women in local bodies Draft amendment to Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act being scrutinised by the Law Department Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy said that there would be 50 per cent reservation for women in the next local body elections in the State. Living up to his promise made during the International Women's Day...