A sign of change: Transgender group joins as site visitors assistants

Round 4.30 a.m., whereas many of the world remains to be asleep, G. Kavi Raju begins a journey that’s each bodily and symbolic. The 36-year-old, newly appointed site visitors assistant with the Telangana State Police, boards a bus from Siddipet district, travelling almost 100 kilometres to Marredpally Site visitors Police Station in Hyderabad. By the point the town stirs to life, Raju is already at his submit, directing the chaos of Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) with a agency hand and a proud smile.

Clad in a crisp white shirt, khaki pants and a police cap, Raju beams with delight, one thing that fuels him by his two-hour every day commute. “It’s a lengthy commute, but it surely offers me time to relaxation and recharge a bit and permits me to see my fellow villagers gawking with awe as I stroll previous them. I stay up for shifting to the town, and intention to serve higher,” he shares.

Raju is likely one of the 44 transgender individuals who have been inducted as site visitors assistants in December 2024 — a groundbreaking initiative by the Telangana authorities to foster inclusivity and formally recognise the transgender neighborhood’s contribution to society.

The uniform and the duties it brings with it have given them greater than a job — it’s a contemporary begin, a second probability at life the place they embrace their identities with delight.

Sharing their story of transformation, they converse of the shift from being social outcasts to figures of authority and respect on the streets. “For the primary time, strangers smiled at us and greeted us on new yr,” they are saying, reflecting on how life has modified in methods they as soon as thought unimaginable.

A brand new starting

At reverse ends of the site visitors sign on the bustling JBS junction, simply 500 metres aside, Raju and his colleague J. Shiva Ram, 30, command consideration and respect from individuals. Commuters observe their directions diligently, sometimes providing a nod or a smile of reassurance.

For Shiva Ram, the uniform symbolises a hard-won freedom. As soon as positioned underneath house-arrest and almost compelled into marrying an older man, he now finds solace and objective in his position. Reflecting on the darker days, he recollects a time when despair almost consumed him. “As Sabitha Rani then, I used to be instructed the proposal had come due to how I regarded and dressed. After I refused, my father thrashed me. Two months later, he handed away, leaving me to shoulder your entire household’s duty,” Shiva Ram shares.

Whereas juggling a twin diploma in Engineering and Arts, Shiva Ram additionally labored as a supervisor at an natural meals firm in Hyderabad. Throughout that point, he tried the Sub-Inspector and Constable exams 4 occasions, narrowly lacking the mark every time.

“Even when I had handed, I wouldn’t have been often known as J.Shiva Ram as we speak. Now, listening to my colleagues name me by this identify is the very best type of respect I may have ever requested for,” he says with a smile.

Regardless of important bodily adjustments, Shiva Ram lived in worry of being deserted by his household, buddies, and society, unable to actually embrace his id till 2023. That yr marked a turning level. The information of his appointment as a site visitors assistant in Marredpally was met with delight and acceptance by his mom and siblings, who reside in Mancherial. Their help prolonged additional when he shared his plans to dwell life on his personal phrases.

In the meantime, for Sania, 26, a trans-woman now deployed in Hyderabad’s Tolichowki space, life has actually come a full circle. Over the previous decade, she did all the things she may to outlive — working as a home assist, stitching garments, and even promoting jowar rotis. Nonetheless, each time she tried to maneuver forward, life pushed her again, forcing her to hunt alms at site visitors intersections. “In the present day, I’m in police uniform, directing site visitors at one of many spots the place I as soon as begged. I couldn’t be happier,” she shares, the delight in her voice unmistakable.

A local of Mahbubnagar, Sania displays on a lifetime of untapped potential, the place her abilities and willpower have been overshadowed by an absence of alternatives. She vividly remembers the primary time she donned her uniform: “From being regarded down upon, shooed away and dismissed as an outsider to being revered and smiled at — it’s a beautiful feeling.”

Hyderabad-based transgender activist Vyjayanthi Vasanta Mogli hails the initiative as a game-changer, empowering the transgender neighborhood to check lives past the confines of conventional livelihoods like begging, intercourse work, or in search of donations on auspicious events.

“Till now, they didn’t have the power to even see themselves in another position past the stereotypes that society imposed on them. However this initiative has sparked hope. Extra people from the neighborhood at the moment are aspiring to affix the companies. They’re inspired to vary their lives,” says Mogli.

One other trans rights activist Rachana Mudraboyina hopes this groundbreaking initiative will increase into different departments of Telangana authorities. “It took nearly a decade for the neighborhood to interrupt the stigma of being labelled a ‘faux transgender’. If somebody identifies as a trans individual, it’s not up for debate. We now have come a great distance, and we’re optimistic concerning the success of this pilot venture. Many extra from the neighborhood are already motivated to affix the pressure,” she says.

Rachana provides that they plan to offer the initiative at the very least six months earlier than flagging any challenges or issues.

Hyderabad Commissioner of Police C.V. Anand emphasises the necessity to combine the transgender neighborhood into mainstream society quite than wanting down on them as somebody completely different. “They’ve confronted lots of exclusion and ostracisation since childhood, leaving them with restricted choices like prostitution, begging and crime. This initiative is a chance for them to interrupt out of that cycle, show their capabilities, and present that they will thrive in different professions,” he says, expressing hope that the venture’s success would set a precedent for different States to duplicate.

Inspector of Marredpally Site visitors Police, J. Bhaskar says that the town’s site visitors cops have been sensitised to make sure a clean induction, onboarding, coaching and work setting for brand new recruits from the neighborhood. “The complete police station workers is often skilled to deal with our transgender counterparts with utmost respect and equality. It has been over per week since they joined, and so they have already tailored nicely to the work. Their obedience and diligence are commendable,” he says.

In keeping with site visitors police officers, the names of the recruits have been added to the payroll. The pay scale will vary from ₹26,000 to ₹30,000 per thirty days, on par with Residence Guards.

Commissioner Anand explains that the site visitors assistants have been appointed on a six-month pilot foundation, much like the phrases for Residence Guards. “They’re entitled to advantages resembling medical remedy at our police dispensary and entry to small loans or grants from the Residence Guard welfare fund. Primarily based on the outcomes, additional growth of the programme shall be thought of by June 2025,” he provides.

Incomes their first paycheck

Okay.Srivalli, 24, is wanting ahead to purchasing her first two-wheeler to commute between Jeedimetla and Mahankali, the place she has been posted. “This would be the first paycheck of my life, and it feels particular. I’m two-wheeler choices now, and based mostly on how a lot I can save from my wage, I’ll purchase the one I like,” she shares with pleasure.

The journey from being Rajashekhar to turning into Srivalli has been one rife with challenges and self-discovery. A local of Khammam, Srivalli moved to Hyderabad on the age of 14 and underwent her gender-affirming surgical procedure. Since then, she has accomplished all the things, from working as a stringer for an area information channel to begging at site visitors indicators for survival.

“My mother and father have handed away, however even once they have been alive, they by no means supported me. I used to be thrashed and even branded with a sizzling knife. In the present day, the identical individuals who deserted me and by no means checked on me at the moment are calling me as much as congratulate me,” she says.

Srivalli has her sights set on turning into a Sub-Inspector with the Telangana Police for which she has enrolled in an undergraduate programme at Dr. Ambedkar Open College in Hyderabad. “I additionally plan to affix teaching courses to organize for the examination,” she says.

For Nitya, 30, a local of Karimnagar, her first wage holds a particular objective — she has pledged to offer it totally to her mother and father, Lingaiah and Lakshmi.

“My total household, together with the village sarpanch, got here to Hyderabad to congratulate me throughout my onboarding. Getting a job within the police division shouldn’t be straightforward, even for normal individuals. For the federal government to recognise us and provides us this chance is overwhelming,” she says, her voice crammed with gratitude.

Requested about how commuters deal with them, Nitya displays on the hardships her neighborhood has endured, stating that even when somebody reacts angrily, they merely brush it off with grace. “Nonetheless, the response we’ve acquired has been overwhelming. Individuals respect the uniform and observe our directions, usually with a way of reverence. That is all very new to us,” she provides.

Sania shares that she plans to put aside ₹10,000 from her first paycheck to throw a celebration for her buddies and nicely wishers who stood by her by thick and skinny.

Breaking free from worry

At 25, G.Sarala manages site visitors on the bustling Masab Tank junction in Hyderabad, however she carries along with her a relentless fear — the worry of one other assault from her family.

Having left residence on the age of 16, Sarala accomplished her undergraduate and postgraduate levels at a well known faculty in Hyderabad earlier than working as a helper at a medical centre. “Throughout that point, my household took me again residence thrice and tried to pressure me right into a ‘boy minimize’ coiffure. I used to be bodily assaulted and even admitted to a rehabilitation centre, however every time, I managed to return to Hyderabad,” she recounts.

Requested if her mother and father knew about her new job, she says with a sigh, “It doesn’t matter what I do, they are going to by no means settle for me for who I’m.”

For 25-year-old Ishaan, the struggles have been uniquely painful. After being deserted by his associate, who he had eloped with, disowned by his household, and rejected by a number of employers, he now manages site visitors circulate on the Tilak Nagar sign in Amberpet. “After my mother and father handed away, I lived with my paternal aunt,” he shares.

“I used to really feel bodily sick and itchy at any time when I used to be compelled to put on ladies’s garments. I might mentally depend the seconds till I may get out of them. My aunt didn’t take this nicely and insisted that I ought to solely store for girls’s clothes. I don’t keep in mind her shopping for me something new after that,” Ishaan recollects.

Though his aunt sometimes checks on him, Ishaan nonetheless receives no help or acceptance from his household. “They proceed to deal with me like a girl, particularly in public settings, which makes me extraordinarily uncomfortable. Now, all I do is simply let go,” he says.

Coaching and onboarding

In September, the Telangana authorities launched India’s first-ever transgender-specific authorities recruitment and social welfare programme, adopted by an elaborate choice course of.

Of the 58 candidates who participated, 44 — 29 transgender ladies and 15 transgender males — have been chosen. On December 6 final yr, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy handed over enrolment papers to 39 people who formally joined the companies.

Following a two-week coaching on the Site visitors Coaching Institute in Goshamahal, which included bodily coaching, methods for managing site visitors, and addressing numerous traffic-related challenges, the brand new recruits have been inducted as site visitors assistants.

They’re now serving throughout 20 site visitors police stations in Hyderabad, together with Amberpet, Bahadurpura, Banjara Hills, Begumpet, Bowenpally, Chandrayangutta, Chikkadpally, Chilkalguda, Jubilee Hills, Kacheguda, Langar Houz, Mahankali, Malakpet, Marredpally, Nalakunta, Panjagutta, SR Nagar, Santosh Nagar, Trimulgherry, and Tolichowki.