What’s the first image that comes to
your mind upon hearing the word “Transgender”? Is it one of disapproval,
disgust and social stigma? I don’t blame you entirely because our societies
since ages have developed many taboos around the transgender community.
However, blaming the society for their miserable treatment doesn’t come across
as a nice defense as we are ourselves form a part of that very same society.
The word Transgender “is an umbrella term that
describes people whose gender identity or expression does not match the sex
they were assigned at birth. For example, a transgender person
may identify as a woman despite having been born with male genitalia.” You
would be amazed to know about the transgender themes occurring in the Indian
mythology. From the Mohini avatar of lord Vishnu, Sikhandi in Mahabharata, Lord
Agni (The consort of moon good) and Lord Aravan (the transgender god) ,all find
mention in ancient Indian epics and puranas).
Yet why
is it that we aren’t inclusive of the transgender community?
This
community has faced atrocities and discrimination to a point that it pushed the
government to pass the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 in Parliament on November 26,
2019. This bill prohibits discrimination and grants rights to the transgender
community of which they had been robbed of for long.
Has the bill really brought about a significant change in status quo of
the Transgender community? Let’s figure it out for ourselves
·
Kochi metro employs transgender people: Kerala’s Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) shattered all myths when it offered jobs to 23 transgender people in their staff in the year
2017 through Kudumbashree Mission .It
was a laudable move by KMRL which not only aimed at making the community
financially independent but also bringing about social inclusion .
One of the transgender employees says “This also was
our first secure job. It proved that we too can do jobs that any other person
does. With increasing acceptability, getting accommodation too became easier”.
While the other transgender members
were happy to receive wedding invites from their colleagues. The commuters too
expressed a welcoming attitude towards them with no incidence of misbehaving.
· However,
this once promising move could not contribute significantly in bringing about a
change in the real sense. At present, out of 23 transgender persons hired only
6 are working with the KMRL. Many quit jobs citing a poor pay. The members had
hard time in finding accommodation in the city .With no hike in the salary,
sustaining in the city became a nightmare.
Faisu , a former employee with the
KMRL says “Since we were hired on contract, the salary was less. Our
salary was `13,000, which reduced to `9,000 after all the deductions, including
Provident Fund. It is difficult to meet our monthly expenses with the amount.”
· Noida metro dedicates station for transgender Community:
Following
the Kochi metro model, the Noida metro dedicated Noida Sector 50 metro station
for the transgender community. It is the first of its kind in North India. This
praiseworthy initiative by the Yogi government aims at uplifting and providing
employment to the transgender people. The station has been renamed “She man” for the inclusion of community
into the mainstream. But this name hasn’t gone down well with certain people
and human rights activists who called it as trans- phobic, derogatory and
insulting. The committee has taken this criticism into consideration and
invited suggestions on the same.
These
members will be offered mainly housekeeping, ticket collecting roles. This
initiative comes as a ray of hope because as per Census 2011, there are 4.9 lakh
transgenders in India out of which approximately 30,000 to 40,000 stay in the
NCR.
Now here come the big questions
§ Who will make sure that the NOIDA metro model does not meet a similar
fate as the Kochi metro?
§ Who will ensure that the transgender members get adequate salary?
§ Most importantly, who will ensure they receive fair treatment and
inclusion that they deserve?
No, it is not the sole responsibility of the authorities. It
is rather a collective effort. It is our combined responsibility to ensure that
the transgender community receives the welcoming treatment they have long been
denied. These schemes, initiatives are just a small step. In order to make them
fruitful we have to work at grass root levels, spreading awareness and
sensitivity about gender identity.
It has to start with you and me. It’s time we bust the taboos and embrace the
transgender community with open hearts.
