From Jan 25, transgenders to ‘shame’ open defecators in Panchkula

Apart from deploying transgenders, the MC has also decided to upload the names of the violators on the website of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation under the name-and-shame drive.

open defecation, panchkula, transgender, hijra community, open defecation shaming, lgbtq community, indian express

Apart from deploying transgenders, the MC has also decided to upload the names of the violators on the website of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation under the name-and-shame drive. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha/Representational/Files)

The Panchkula Municipal Corporation will hire members of the transgender community to shame people defecating in the open, said Commissioner Rajesh Jogpal on Monday, adding that the group would be deployed from January 25. “The basic idea is just to prevent people from littering and defecating in the open by shaming them. We are hiring a group of six to seven transgenders. We will pay them an honorarium,” said the commissioner.

The honorarium has not been fixed yet. This is not the first time the method will be tried in the national Swachh campaign. It has been implemented in Madhya Pradesh and draws on the entertainment talents of the transgender community as well as the importance that people accord to them on important occasions, such as birth and marriage.

The Panchkula MC has identified sites in the district which are open-defecation prone. “There are colony areas like Mauli Jagran, Rajiv Colony and Budanpur, which are prone to open defecation and also littering of garbage by people. So, the transgenders will go to the identified area in a group and shame the people who are doing this,” said Jogpal.

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Notably, the city was declared open defecation free in 2017 but, clearly, the problem persists. Mayor Upinder Kaur Ahluwalia said, “Even after getting the status, people were still doing OD. When we got the status, the city was actually open defecation free.”

Apart from deploying transgenders, the MC has also decided to upload the names of the violators on the website of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation under the name-and-shame drive.

“The list of violators would be put up on the website. The basic idea is to deter people from carrying out such violations. When the entire country is going ahead with its drive against open defecation, the corporation has challaned 131 people in the last two months. Also, there were 17 people, who have been challaned for littering. The fine for littering in Panchkula at present is just Rs 500.

The Municipal Corporation is also planning to increase the fine to Rs 2,500 as and when decided in the House.

Hina Rohtaki

Hina Rohtaki is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express, Chandigarh. She covers Chandigarh administration and other cross beats. In this field for over a decade now, she has also received the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award by the President of India in January 2020. She tweets @HinaRohtaki ... Read More

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