UP: Trans woman teacher gets no relief from NCW panel against sacking

Lakhimpur Kheri (UP): The district-level panel, appointed by National Commission for Women (NCW), to ascertain whether a trans teacher was sacked due to her gender identity, has given a clean chit to the school management.

The four-member panel probing her case gave a "clean chit" to the school in question and termed her allegations as "baseless".

The trans woman Jane Kaushik, was fired from a private school in Lakhimpur Kheri last year.

Talking to reporters, Kaushik has said that she is not satisfied with the panel report and will continue her fight.

"I am not satisfied with the report that has been submitted. It is solely based on the statements given by the students and teachers who could easily have been influenced by the school authorities. The evidence I submitted to the independent committee constituted under the district magistrate was not given any consideration."

She further said: "NCW has asked for my response to the report, and my lawyers and I are working on that now."

Kaushik was hired as a Social Science teacher but the school authorities sacked her in less than a month.

After she was sacked, Kaushik approached National Commission for Women and then the local police.

When school authorities were asked, they said that Kaushik was only good at teaching English but not Social Science subjects.

As the matter persisted, the school management filed a defamation suit worth Rs 1 crore against her. They claimed that she was tarnishing the school's reputation in society.