India General Elections 2024: Transgender voters demand to be counted

A handful of transgenders residing in Nalasopara under the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency participated in the electoral process for the first time on Mondaymidday spoke to a few of them who demanded a better lifestyle from the state and Central governmentsldquoWe have voted for the first time as we did not have proper documents in the past But an NGO helped us obtain valid documents including Aadhaar Cards PAN cards voter ID cards etcrdquo transgender Aliya Pawar saidA total of 225 out of 2148514 voters belong to the third gender in the Palghar Lok Sabha constituency according to government data However not all of them turned up to cast their votes on MondayThe third genders from different segments of the constituency got inked in Palghar district where 10 candidates are contesting the Lok Sabha pollsldquoA few of them have gone to their villages and others were not ready to vote despite having their voter IDs But we six transgenders were very excited to get ink on our fingersrdquo Aliya saidDemands of third genderMost of the transgenders told midday that they become victims of social discrimination due to the sheer lack of awareness programs by the state and Central governments They said most of them are welleducated and degree holders yet they have to resort to begging ldquoWe are not given the opportunity to work in the mainstreamrdquo said Honey Patel a 28yearold transgender residing in the same neighbourhood as Pawar in Nalasopara EastldquoI am a BCom graduate and had been working at a call centre where I faced social discrimination and harassment Though my boss would always encourage me to work my colleagues would pass comments and finally I had to quit my job I had been earning R18000 per monthrdquo Patel saidldquoNow I go to beg in a group of third gender because people did not allow me to continue the job in the mainstreamrdquo Patel addedldquoThe school dropout rates in the trans community are very high Why Did the government ever try to address this issue We have to face ragging and harassment at the school level I know how I continued my studies despite all oddsrdquo said Patel adding ldquoI completed my BCom from Mumbai University where I had to face harassment People mocked me but I continued my studiesrdquoldquoIf we fall sick doctors are hesitant to treat us as if we are aliensrdquo Patel addedMeanwhile Pawar said ldquoWe have no proper house to live in We have to struggle to find good accommodation because landlords and neighbours make weird faces after looking at usrdquoldquoThe government should generate employment opportunities for the third gender community where many welleducated transgenders are forced to earn through beggingrdquo Pawar saidPawar further added ldquoWe are given only rice in the ration whereas others get everything Why this discrimination against the trans community How will we survive Who will look after usrdquoldquoThe Central government has made a separate compartment for speciallyabled people to travel seamlessly Why is there no separate seat reserved for the trans community in trains Also there is no dedicated washroom for the third communityrdquoldquoIf the government has engaged and empowered us to vote they must listen to our demands to give us a respectful liferdquo Pawar added225No of transgender voters in Palghar LS constituency