Election Commission Appoints Bihars First Transgender Presiding Officer For Assembly Elections

Navya Singh

October 5, 2020

Monika Das has become the first transgender woman from Bihar to become the first-ever presiding poll officer for the state assembly elections that are expected to start from October 28.

The Chief electoral officer of Bihar, HR Srinivasa said that Das will be provided all the training pertaining to the election duties along with other polling officers in Patna.

The 32-year-old gold law graduate from Patna University is also the first transgender in Bihar who has been working with a nationalized bank since 2015.

With this achievement, Bihar has become the first state in India to appoint a transperson as the presiding officer to any election.

Earlier in 2016, Riya Sarkar, a transgender woman, was appointed as a polling officer in West Bengal in 2016.

There are around 2,344 transgenders eligible to cast their votes in upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.

Expressing pleasure over the appointment of Monika Das, Reshma Prasad, an expert member of the National Council for Transgender Persons in New Delhi, said that it was a matter of pride for the entire transgender community.

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