Tamil Nadu has been at the forefront in recognizing the challenges faced by the transgender community. On Friday, K Prithika Yashini becomes the first transgender to be appointed as sub-inspector. As we celebrate this welcome first, we look into her long journey and some of Tamil Nadu’s initiatives in mainstreaming the transgender community.
K Prithika Yashini journey – Fit yet far from easy
Prithika’s application got rejected by the state police department due to lack of provision and guidelines (for physical fitness & interview) for the third gender. The set back’s did not stop Prithika in furthering her ambition. After a considerably lengthy legal discourse, the court paved the way for Prithika to be appointed as sub-inspector. The judgement came after a series of writ petitions from Prithika which resulted in her cut off marks being re-considered among other minor re-considerations.
Tamil Nadu – First in third
Tamil Nadu has an estimated population of more than 30,000 transgender people and has achieved a number of firsts in provision of welfare for the third gender and mainstreaming them. Some of the initiatives include:
1.) Free housing program
2.) Admission in government colleges with full scholarship for higher studies
3.) Alternative sources of livelihood through formation of self-help groups (for savings) and initiating income-generation programmes (IGP).
And most importantly Tamil Nadu was also the first state to form a Transgender Welfare Board with representatives from the transgender community, an effort which is reported to be the first in the world.
Recently Tiruchi Siva of DMK moved the popular bill on Transgender rights which were supported by all political parties in Rajya Sabha, which includes provision of benefits on the lines of reserved communities like SC & ST which includes reservation in government jobs and protection against sexual harassment.
TLI wishes K Prithika Yashini all the very best for her future and also takes this occasion to appreciate the commendable efforts taken for the welfare of transgender. We hope this precedent will inspire many more initiatives and achievement in the near future.
