Undoing social discrimination, exclusion of transgender persons — through jobs

Acceptance apart, Sahu said, the project is a departure from a life of discrimination and social exclusion the transgender persons faced, where no one even gave them a job. “We were forced to beg on trains, dance in marriages and other social functions to earn a livelihood.”

Sahu, who earns Rs 7,000-10,000 a month now, said Sweekruti has also ensured an end to transphobia and the mental stress that came from dealing with it. “People coming to park their vehicles also show us respect. My parents are also very happy for me,” Sahu said.

Jairaj Nag, 50, who works as a helper in a Swachha Safari, a battery-operated vehicle used in door-to-door waste collection, says Sweekruti has given the transgender persons their “own identity”.

“There was a time when people used to crack jokes at us for being a transgender. Now, like others, I also earn my livelihood with dignity. And I no longer face any transphobia and I am very happy about that. People talk to us whenever we go to their doorstep to collect waste,” added Nag, who earns around Rs 9,700 a month.

For Balangir District Collector Chanchal Rana though, Sweekruti is a means to fix a bigger, problematic perception.

“There are programmes that dole out benefits to the transgender, which makes them dependent on the government. But people don’t see them as people who can contribute,” said Rana.

With many like Sahu running parking lots and others driving battery-operated vehicles or working as sanitation workers, going door-to-door collecting segregated household waste, Rana said transgender persons are now seen as “part of the workforce”.

“The project has also helped form self-help groups among transgender persons to enable these groups to avail of seed capital. Around 400 to 500 people are likely to have benefitted from this, but it is a continuous process of organising and skilling transgender persons,” said Rana, who is among the 19 winners of The Indian Express Excellence in Governance Awards for 2020 and 2021.

The Indian Express Excellence in Governance Awards 2023

The biennial awards celebrate the finest work done by District Magistrates, women and men considered the foot-soldiers of governance as they script change that touches the lives of countless people across the country.

According to Naba Krishna Sahoo, the district social welfare officer, Sweekruti was made possible with financial help from the state social security and empowerment of persons with disabilities (SSEPD) department.

Under the project, Bikash Behera, a graduate who could not get a government job, is managing the Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP) plant at Tusra near Balangir.

“See, now I am very happy that I am providing jobs to others in the FSTP plant while also earning for myself.”