Women staff outnumber men in Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service

Data released by Madras High Court shows that around 52% of staff were women and only 48% men

Women employees have outnumbered men in Tamil Nadu State Judicial Service. Out of the sanctioned strength of 25,001 employees, the working strength across all 32 judicial districts in the State was only 20,118 and among them 10,411 (51.74%) were women and only 9,707 (48.26%) were men as on December 31, 2021.

Data released by the Madras High Court reveals there were more women employees in Group B, C and D posts though men continue to dominate in top level Group A posts. While the sanctioned strength of Group A posts was 67, the working strength was 59 (40 male and 19 female) and the rest of eight posts were lying vacant.

The situation was completely different in Group B posts where out of 2,303 sanctioned posts, 1,923 (1,056 female and 867 male) were occupied and the rest of 380 were vacant. Similarly, out of 15,989 sanctioned posts in Group C, 12,369 (6,314 female and 6,055 male) were occupied and the rest of 3,620 posts were lying vacant.

Chennai has topped the list with 526 women employees as against 462 men in Group C posts, 303 women as against 263 in Group D posts, 146 women as against 81 men in Group B posts and two women as against one man in Group A post although the strength of women employees was more in almost all districts.

However, when it came to the post of judicial officers, only 39.65% were women. The State had a sanctioned strength of 1,316 judicial officers (338 district judges, 345 senior civil judges and 633 civil judges) as on December 31, 2021 but the working strength was only 1,082 (280 district judges, 294 senior civil judges and 51 civil judges).

Out of the total working strength, 110 women (39.28%) were holding the post of district judge, 103 (35.03%) were senior civil judges and 216 (42.51%) were civil judges.