NADRA: Eunuchs in Balochistan not applying for new jobs

No one from the eunuch community has applied for jobs at NADRA's Balochistan office.

QUETTA: No one from the eunuch community has applied for jobs at the National Database and Registration Authority’s (NADRA) Balochistan office.

According to NADRA’s provincial chapter, only 66 eunuchs have so far been registered in Quetta and in 10 other districts of the province, which is a relatively low number compared to other provinces in the country.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s direction to provide eunuchs with jobs, NADRA had published vacancies for data entry operators and office assistants. The qualification required for the post is either a matriculation or an intermediate degree.

Officials said vacancies for eunuchs were advertised in newspapers and a special cell was set up for this purpose. However, no eunuch has so far submitted an application in the province.

Officials at the Social Welfare Department in Balochistan say the process of registration in the province is very slow and not up to the mark.

The official added that no one has registered as a eunuch in several districts.

A Quetta-based journalist Mohammad Kazim said that many eunuchs in Baloch and Pakhtun societies avoid disclosing that they are eunuchs. “People usually make fun of them,” he said.

A NADRA official said that candidates that meet the requirement criteria would be inducted.  “The appointments will be made on merit,” he added.

However, he said that since no one has submitted an application, NADRA is thinking of reviewing the criteria, and if anyone applies, the application would be considered for the posts.

A resident of Panjgur, Amjid Baloch, said many eunuchs in the area are registered as male.

“There must be seminars and workshops to mobilise the eunuchs that they are the part of this society and have the right to obtain jobs,” Pulain a transgender told The Express Tribune. Another eunuch, Qudus, said that he has registered himself as male and does not know about the job opportunities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2011.