The newly formed West Bengal Transgender Development Board has sent a proposal to both Kolkata Police and West Bengal Police to let volunteers from the transgender community be a part of the Civil Police Force (CPF) or the Green Police Force, who are actively involved in crowd and traffic management during occasions like Durga Puja, when the police force needs more people to maintain a state of normalcy in the city.
Aparna Banerjee, a member of the board says, “We sent a proposal with the intention of increasing the visibility of members of the transgender community, and draw the attention of the common public to the fact that members of the community have started to understand the need for their rights, and the need for coming to the mainstream. This is entirely a volunteer job for all the members of the huge umbrella term, and anyone who is interested out of one’s free will may join the program on a contractual temporary basis. This is not only limited to ‘hijras’, but anyone who identifies as a transgender.”
Talking about the reaction of the community members, Banerjee adds, “Members of the community have realized their rights. This is for anyone who is interested, and I hope people will come forward and take part in this initiative.”
We look forward to the implementation of this bold step which will shine a lot of light on the issue. The board initially had 7 members; but unfortunately we have lost one recently. The 6 member team plans to propose and implement other such steps which will lead to the development and acceptance of transgender people in the society.