Last year, after the Supreme Court announced transgenders as the third gender, CAT had introduced the third gender category. With that 80 transgender people have registered to compete for seats in India’s top B-schools.
Even though, there were no registrations under the third gender category last year, this year Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has many registrations by transgender people.
Talking about the hesitation among transgender people to mention their gender as third gender category, Kalki Subramaniam, transgender people activist, told The Times of India, “Such a large number coming out while taking a prestigious test will be a motivation for many. But what after they get admissions in B schools? Will there be discrimination? Before giving admission to transgender people, management institutes should sensitize the faculty and students about gender diversity. Only then can we ensure zero discrimination. “
However, the top B-schools are claiming that they will be providing equal opportunities and best facilities to transgender students as provided to other students.
Sangeeta Shah Bharadwaj, Chairperson for admissions at Management of Development Institute, Gurgaon told the Times of India, “We will conduct sensitizing programmes for our students. I think the youth of today are broad-minded and do not believe in gender discrimination. The most important thing is to provide basic facilities that will give them space in the institution.
Explaining the job opportunities for the transgender people Kalki Subramaniam told the The Times of India that when she was working eight years ago, her seniors had accepted her without any discrimination. Some of her colleagues were uncomfortable. But she thinks that the trend has changed now.