Sindh cabinet approves reserved seats for transgender persons in local councils

Meeting of the provincial cabinet was held at the CM House while the Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in the chair

KARACHI:

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah chaired a meeting of the provincial cabinet on Friday, taking several decisions including the approval of reserved seats for transgenders in the local council.

"Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, believing in the policy of equal rights, has approved reserved seats for transgenders in local councils. Women, youth member, labour/farmer, people of other faith & differently-abled persons have been given reserved seats in local councils," the CM House said in a tweet.

All the provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, and other concerned officers attended the cabinet meeting.

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, the provincial cabinet discussed the allocation of reserved seats for the local council for six categories at the request of Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah. The categories include women, and youth members (at least one seat), labor or farmer (one seat), non-Muslim members (one seat), persons with disabilities (one seat), and transgender persons (one seat).

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Following the approval, at least one seat would be reserved for transgender persons in the local councils. 

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah believing in policy of equal rights, has approved reserved seats for transgenders in local councils. Women, youth member, labour/farmer, people of other faith & differently-abled persons have been given reserved seats in local councils. pic.twitter.com/HzApWLF8xv

— Sindh Chief Minister House (@SindhCMHouse) January 6, 2023

The transgender community continued to faces many challenges in the year 2022 in Pakistan, but small steps were also taken to make the country a more equal society.

In July 2022, the Sindh Assembly passed a law reserving a 0.5% job quota for the transgender community within various provincial government departments.

The Local Government Amendment Act reserved 1% of seats for transgender people, allowing them to play a role in the local government structure of 31 districts of Sindh.

In October, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) made it mandatory for mobile registration vans (MRVs) to ensure the registration of transgender persons at their doorstep to include them in political process.

The second phase of local government elections are scheduled to be held in Sindh on January 15. 

The second phase of LG polls in Sindh was originally scheduled to be held on July 24 last year, but were postponed due to incessant monsoon rains across the province.