food for thought

food for thought

The transgender community in Assam is nearly 20,000 strong. Their problems do not figure in the public mind, though some of them do get in the news for the wrong reasons. Recently the pocket of a forest ranger was picked on the Nagaland Express while on way to Guwahati. The culprit was a transgender who was later apprehended near Narengi rail station. Some local dailies in last few days have been detailing the nuisance caused by transgender gangs at key bus stoppages and rail stations in the city. But the authorities concerned need to give a hard thought about avenues open to transgenders to make a honest living. As a distinct group, transgenders face huge discrimination everywhere they turn to. Rare is the employer willing to give them an opportunity to work. Yet they are willing to deliver if given a chance. The Supreme Court in a landmark verdict this year created for transgenders the ‘third gender’ status, while asking State governments to treat them as socially and economically backward, as well as carry out awareness drives to end the stigma associated with them. But it is a moot question how far the apex court’s order has stirred the powers-be in Dispur to help and rehabilitate the transgender community through appropriate welfare schemes. Most of them still remain outside the pale of society, left to their own devices to eke out a painful living against tremendous odds. Quite a few transgenders also fall prey to sexual predators, running the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. To add insult to unending injury, most transgenders in the State have even failed to make it to the national register of citizens, presently in its final stage of update. The reason? It turns out that while they could apply in the ‘others’ category, their birth certificates mention them as male or female — so they were left out of NRC due to legacy data ‘mismatch’. And since most of them have been disowned by their families, there is no way for them to access other key papers too. The State government needs to fine-tune such ‘official blunt instruments’ if any justice is to be done to this community. Assam happens to be the third State in the country after West Bengal and Maharashtra where a transgender has been appointed as a judge (at the Kamrup district and sessions court). More such good news is needed which can benefit members of the community, make them self-reliant and guarantee them a life of dignity.

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