In a welcome move towards gender equality, Tamil Nadu has set up a toilet exclusively for transgenders at Tiruchi city’s Central Bus Stand. A first in the state, the toilet has a distinct sign marking the space solely for the third gender.
The provision has been built by Tiruchi City Corporation at a cost of about ₹9.8 lakh. While the service will be free of cost, the civic body has employed a person for its maintenance, according to a report in The Hindu.
“We feel happy to meet the long pending demand of transgenders. Tiruchi is one among the first cities to have an exclusive toilet for transgenders. We hope the facility will offer solution to the difficulties being faced by them while using public toilets. They will get much needed privacy,” N. Ravichandran, Commissioner cum Special Officer, Tiruchi City corporation told The Hindu.
Representational Image | Source: The Indian Express
On the other hand, a section of the transgender community in Tiruchi has questioned the provision of an exclusive toilet reasoning that it could lead to further discrimination towards the community.
‘Only toilets won’t end our problems’
X. Gayathiri, a third gender told The Hindu that the government had a greater role to play in providing education, housing and employment opportunities for transgenders. “Exclusive toilets would no way solve their main problems,” Gayathri said.
According to a PTI report, there are about 11 lakh people in Tamil Nadu who identify as transgenders. The Madras High Court in April last year had directed the Tamil Nadu government to build public toilets and bathrooms in areas where transgenders lives in large numbers.
‘Not the first state’
Some other Indian states in the past have also undertaken the responsibility of providing adequate sanitation facilities for the third gender.
Mysore, Karnataka became the first Indian city to open a toilet exclusively for transgenders in 2015. It was sanctioned by the Zila Panchayat at a cost of Rs 1 lakh.
Two years later, Indore became the second city to launch an exclusive toilet for transgenders. Inaugurated in the city’s Mangalwara district, the initiative also aimed at creating awareness about the government schemes relating to the transgender community with special focus on sanitation.
Odisha also got its first transgender toilet in December last year under a project by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).
Pictorial representation for a Transgenders’ toilet
| Courtesy: Wikipedia photo/AxelBoldt
In a unique initiative, Kolkata had it’s first gender neutral public toilet as a result of individual efforts by 21 year old Sobhan Mukherjee. According to the Quint, Mukherjee had convinced his local municipal councillor to set aside two washrooms exclusively for the third gender, out of the four pay-and-use toilets in south Kolkata’s Bansdroni area.
Centre’s guidelines
To ensure that members of the transgender community are recognised as equal citizens, the centre had also provided guidelines to the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin). The circular issued in April last year said , “In many communities, the third gender may often be dissociated from the mainstream. Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) should make a conscious effort that they are recognised as equal citizens and users of toilets. They should be allowed to use the facility of their choice (men or women) in community or public toilets.”
Despite these guidelines about usage of washrooms by transgender persons of their own choice, a Times of India report pointed out that a majority of them report harassment and hostility by the public and security personnel at the toilets.
(Written by Shreya Bansal)
