A woman filed a petition seeking exemption from a fitness test or having one prescribed for women, while applying for the post of a fireperson. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued a notice to the Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh for the same.
Rekha Rani, a 28-year-old woman, contended that all the criteria listed for the appointment of firepersons are essentially for male candidates, and nothing is prescribed specifically for women, making the process gender-biased.
The criteria for the fitness test to be appointed as a fireperson is as per the Chandigarh Service Regulations 2011 for Fire and Emergency Service Department. Rani said that her father had been working in the Municipal Corporation as a mali or gardener, and he passed away in 2014. She asked for a compassionate appointment, in 2015.
However, her application kept getting delayed. In 2021, she was directed to appear for the same physical test, as male candidates. It was stated that if she doesn’t clear the test, her application will not go through and her name will be back in the waitlist.
Rani petitioned that while she kept struggling with this huge delay in her application getting through, she realised that the corporation had no criteria for women for the post of a fireperson. She is again asked to appear for the same gender-biased test on May 27, 2022.
Hearing the petition, the bench of Justice Rajbir Sehrawat issued a notice to the Chandigarh administration and Municipal Corporation for the same.