Kerala: Kochi Metro Grants Job Opportunities for Transgenders

• Kerala became the second state in India to acknowledge transgender rights and formulate a governmental policy for them
• As mentioned in the Supreme Court Judgement, the policy recognises the rights of the transgenders to identify themselves as male, female or intersex
• It ensures their right to social, economic and cultural opportunities

Life has always been harsh for the India's third gender. Be it looking for a job or home, it has never come easy. These people are sidelined from the society for a reason that they are not responsible for- physical appearance! As a result, their life becomes miserable and they do not find a way to live it any better.

Following the footsteps of Odisha government, Kerala became the second state to have a policy for transgenders. Last year, in 2015, they released a governmental policy which stated that the transgender people have the right to the following:

• Identify themselves as male, female or intersex as per their reality
• Avail all the social, economic and cultural opportunities and resources
• Equal employment opportunities as everyone else and pension for those above 60 years
  
• To live a life without violence

Additionally, the government aims to set up a Transgender Justice Board which would be headed by the Minister of Social Justice, Kerala.

Follow NewsGram on Twitter: @newsgram1

There is heavy discrimination between transgenders and other genders. They are maltreated by people and their rights are barely acknowledged properly. They are not given medical care or pension schemes. So, Kerala Government and the Metro Rail Corporation has decided to give them employment opportunities, reported thebetterindia.com.

Follow NewsGram on Facebook: NewsGram.com

"Transgenders face a lot of difficulties. They are forced into undesirable occupations. So as an experiment we have developed an idea to rehabilitate them. Under Kudumbasree itself, we have planned to employ transgenders in Kochi metro. We know that our experiment will be a success… Kochi metro will be a venue for many experiments. So first we decided to make use of Kudumbasree, women self-help groups in many operation sections. Unlike other metros, Kochi metro will have more women employees, it will be a woman run metro," Alias George, Kochi Metro Rail Managing Director, has said in a recent KMMRL Facebook post.

Thus, Kerala has not only promised the transgenders a better world but are actually working to achieve that end.

-prepared by Atreyee Sengupta, an intern at NewsGram.

ALSO READ:

• A deeper look into Kerala's comprehensive transgender policy
• Bengal mulling recruitment of transgenders as civic volunteers
• Kolkata hospital mulling separate spaces for transgenders