The Kochi Metro has decided to provide accommodation for 23 transgender women it employed, after they could not find permanent housing. The decision comes after nine transgender women employed with the Kochi Metro had quit as they said no-one was willing to rent to them.
Acording to a BBC report, a spokesperson of the metro said that they have decided to provide hostel accommodation and transport at a nominal fee. It is the first government agency to allot roles for transgender people.
Kochi Metro’s Reshmi CR said that the company had asked the nine women who resigned to reconsider their decision. THey will wait for their reply tii July 5. If they decided not to rejoin, she said that their positions would be filled by other members of the transgender community.
The plight of the employees touched a chord, especially given that the metro employed them in the hope that it would pave the way for other firms to begin employing transgender people. A video featuring all 23, in which they told people “not to pity them”, was viewed more than one million times on social media.
Video Courtesy: YouTube
The resignations came less than two weeks after the service was inaugurated. The transgenders had to struggle a lot to get accommodation.
“Many of us have stayed in private lodges and hotels so far, where we had to pay around 600 rupees a day. That was unaffordable for us, given we only make around 9,000 rupees every month,” said a transgender according to the BBC report.
The new employees were ticket agents and cleaning staff.
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