Feature
Can’t frame rules for transgenders in UPSC exam: Centre tells HC
New Delhi: The central government told the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that rules for including transgenders in the UPSC examination can’t be framed as the Supreme Court has not clarified the definition of a transgender.
An application seeking clarification on the term transgenders has been filed, the central government and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) told a division bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice P.S. Teji.
The central government said: “Since the Supreme Court judgment did not clarify the term trangender, we have already moved an application for clarification of definition of transgender. After clarification rules can be framed.”
The court was hearing a PIL seeking quashing of the UPSC notice for not including transgender as a gender option in the application form for the civil services preliminary examination.
The court had earlier asked the central government and the UPSC why the transgender category has not been included as an eligibility criteria for the examination when the Supreme Court has declared such individuals as third gender.
In April 2014, the Supreme Court created the “third gender” status for hijras or transgenders and had asked the central government to treat transgenders as “socially and economically backward”.
Earlier, transgenders were forced to write male or female against their gender. The Supreme Court had said transgenders will be allowed admission in educational institutions and given employment on the basis that they belonged to the third gender category.
Filing its response, the central government said the issue is sub-judice before the Supreme Court and as application for modification or clarification is still pending, “no decision or orders has been passed by the central government for declaring transgender persons as third gender”.
“As such the inclusion of transgenders in the application form (of UPSC) at this stage has not been carried out,” the government said. It further said the apex court judgment, has observed that “even gay, lesbian, bisexual are included by the descriptor as ‘transgender’.
“However, the stand of the government is that the concept of gay, lesbian, bisexual is based on the ‘sexual orientation’ of the person, while the term ‘transgender’ has to do with the person’s own deep sense of gender identity.
“From the plain reading of the Supreme Court judgment it appears that all transgender persons have been treated and declared as ‘third gender’. However, the definition of ‘transgender’ remains unclear,” the government said, asking the court not to pass any interim order in the case.
The petition filed by advocate Jamshed Ansari sought inclusion of transgenders as an eligibility criteria or gender option in the online application forms for the civil services exam, saying it would “benefit the transgender community who are socially excluded from public employment and are suffering from social backwardness in the society”.
The lack of the third gender option resulted in transgenders not being able to apply for the examination scheduled to be held on August 23, the plea said.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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