Telangana HC orders pole climbing test for two women rejected for lineman job

Hyderabad, December 3: Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the Transco authorities to conduct poll climbing test to two women candidates who qualified in the written test held for appointment of junior lineman post. 

A division bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy observed that gender discrimination in appointments would not be permitted, The Hindu reported.

Two women, V. Bharathi and B. Shirisha, along with six other women filed a writ petition in the HC stating that the TS Transco was not conducting poll climbing tests for them though they were qualified in the written test for junior lineman posts.

The Transco authorities informed the court that only two out of the eight women succeeded in the written test. After hearing contentions of the petitioners and the Transco counsel, a single judge had dismissed petitions of six women. The judge, however, directed the authorities to give an opportunity to the two women (who qualified in the written test) when poll climbing test is conducted in the future.

Challenging this single judge verdict, the two women moved the division bench for an appeal.

In a separate order, the Bench directed the State government to appoint chairperson for Telangana State Commission for Women by the end of this December. The Chief Secretary would have to appear before the Bench if the appointment was not made by the month end.

Rama Rao, a social activist, filed a public interest litigation seeking appointment of chairperson for the Commission. No person was appointed for the post after T. Venkataratnam retired as Commission chairperson in 2018, the petitioner stated.

On Wednesday, the Bench recalled that it had directed the government in this October to appoint chairperson for the commission. Seeking to know, why the government was dilly-dallying on the issue of appointing chairperson for a crucial rights body like State Commission for Women, the bench asked the government where the file got stuck.

Advocate General B.S. Prasad, responding to queries from the Bench, said the government would complete the process of appointment by December 31. The matter was posted after four weeks for next hearing.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/telangana-high-court-orders-pole-climbing-test-for-two-women-rejected-for-lineman-job/article33237928.ece