While Coimbatore, Tirupur and Nilgiris have been extending a helping hand to needy sections of society, the transgender community is one that could do with more help, may be in the form of ration kits to enable them cook a decent meal for themselves.
For Radha (name changed), a 47-year-old transwoman sex worker, managing a single meal is a challenge today. Despite her age, Radha was able to make between Rs. 800 and Rs. 1500 on any working day. Today, she is deprived of her income, and her savings too have dried up, making ends meet the last 15 days.
Nirmala used to eke out a living by seeking alms going from shop to shop. She used to walk down from her house in Sundakamuthurfor almost 4 kms,collecting money from the shops on the way, and walk back to reach home at around 4 p.m. with an income of Rs. 600 or so.
There are several Radhas and Nirmalas who are in near starvation today, with no means to make a living or earn their keep because of the lockdown that has come in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.
If you thought these transgenders, who are not educated and who are engaged in prostitution and beggary are the ones who are suffering, it is not so. There are many other transgenders who have been employed in organised labour who are unsure about their next meal.
Take the case of Padmini Prakash. She is well known as the first transwoman newsreader on a local news channel. But today Padmini is also in the doldrums as she had to quit the channel because it did not pay her salary for three months.
There is 47-year-old Mahalakshmi, who is a cook and works for a catering service. She used to earn Rs. 2000, cooking for 50 persons. But now with the lockdown and no events happening, she too is left in the lurch.
There are a few others who were employed in random daily jobs and find themselves without one today. They live in pockets on Mettupalayam Road, in Town Hall, Saibaba Colony, Kuniamuthur, Kovaipudur, Thudiyalur, Sundakamuthur, and Kavundampalayam, besides other areas.
You may ask so what is different ? Aren’t so many others in the same boat ? True. But for transgenders the issue is complex because of their identity.
It is common knowledge that society does not look upon them with dignity. With the lockdown, social stigma has become more glaring.
Government has come out with several schemes to provide relief during the lockdown, but we have been neglected and ignored, they lament. Besides food and medicines, there is the house rent. Even if they have the money, they neither have the access of smartphones or apps to order, nor the freedom to walk into a grocery store.
“Police are very strict with us. We are not allowed to walk on the road or ride our own two-wheeler. They stop us and send us back with a warning. We are not able to go out and buy supplies, medicines, and any other essentials. We are not even able to eat at the Amma Unnavagams,” says Nirmala.
Also, many of them do not have valid identity proof, or Aadhar cards, ration cards, pension cards, without which they are unable to make use of the Civil Supplies’ facilities.
There are several of them, especially the elder ones in the community, who have serious health issues, which require regular medication. Now, they are neither able to visit a doctor nor buy medicines.
Anjali Ajeeth, who has been working for the cause of the transgender community in Coimbatore for more than a decade, says that her “transgender friends” have become more marginalised than before. Since they are branded as trouble makers, the Police do not spare them even in these times of difficulty.
Though she was able to arrange groceries to a certain extent, she concurs that it is very difficult to source material or monetary help in the time of lockdown for all of them. There are close to 1,500 transgender persons in Coimbatore.
“Work from home cannot apply to these people. Their lives cannot operate on “online” mode. Their livelihood is based purely on social interactions. Social distancing, and in their case, isolation, has made livelihood a next to impossible reality. While the younger ones are more aware about the rights and privileges available to them, the older ones have always been rejected and denied opportunities. Expecting them to earn enough to save to tide over such situations, is not right,” says Anjali.
While Coimbatore, Tirupur and Nilgiris has been extending its helping hand to needy sections of society, the transgender community is one section that would do with more help, may be in the form of ration kits to enable them cook a decent meal for themselves.