Constable in India’s Madhya Pradesh gets govt permission for gender reassignment

A police constable in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh today got the nod from the state home department for getting gender reassigned to male, a senior official said.

This is the first case in Madhya Pradesh where permission for gender reassignment -- from female to male -- has been given in any government department of the state, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora told PTI in Bhopal, capital city of the state, our New Delhi correspondent reports.

Prominent psychologists have confirmed that the constable was having gender identity disorder since childhood, Rajora said.

The home department has given its permission to the state director general of police (DGP) to allow the constable to have gender reassignment as this is a case of gender identity disorder since childhood, he said.

The constable applied in 2019 for gender reassignment through an application along with an affidavit to the police headquarters and also published the intention for the same in a government gazette, he said.

As per rules, an Indian citizen has the right to choose his/her gender without taking into account his/her religion and caste, the official said.