In a first, transgender officials deputed for election duty

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the first time in the history of the country, three members of the transgender community will be part of the team of officials deputed for election duty.
Three employees of the transgender cell, under the department of social justice, constituted by the state government for the welfare of the community, will be assigned for election duties. The social justice department has written to the office of chief electoral officer Teeka Ram Meena that transgender cell project officer Syama S Prabha and project assistants Laya Maria Jaison and Sruthi Sithara have been cleared by the department for election duty.All the three members are working as employees in the transgender cell on contract basis.
“We are extremely happy to be part of the historical moment. Such opportunities give us more energy to do something not only for our community, but also the society at large,” Laya Maria Jaison said.
There is a significant increase in the number of members from transgender community who have figured in the list of voters this year. There are 119 transgender voters in the list. For 2014 Lok Sabha elections the number was zero. The maximum number of transgender voters is from Thiruvananthapuram (41) followed by Thrissur (21) and Kozhikode (15).
The actual number transgender people in the state is much higher. The social welfare department has issued identity cards to more than 700 members of the transgender community, who will benefit from welfare schemes of the government. As per a survey conducted by the department of social justice in 2015, there are more than 25,000 transgender persons in the state.
“We have given a representation to the CEO for changing the column asking for ‘sex’ while enrolling as voters, and use ‘gender’ instead. None of our community members want to be known as ‘third sex’. Once the change is brought in, more members will get enrolled in the voters’ list,” said Jaison.
The state was the first in the country to come up with a transgender policy in 2015, officially upholding the rights of the community members. The state motor vehicles department had made changes in its software to incorporate an additional window which will give an option ‘TG’ in addition to male and female, when an applicant applies online for driving licence.