While the country made a huge deal about transgenders being employed in Kochi Metro as a step towards gender equality. The reality is unsatisfactory and dark. While the metro was inaugurated by PM Modi on Monday, in one functional week, 8 transgender employees have quit their jobs out of the 21 who joined. Notably, 23 people were offered the job of which 21 people took it, in the first phase of recruitment.
Sensing trouble, they said, they made many representations to Kochi’s mayor and the district collector but their pleas went unheard.
As per Hindustan Times reports, Raga Ranjini, a post-graduate, is working as a ticket collector at Edapally station and she draws a salary of ₹15,000 a month. “Right now I am staying in a lodge where the daily rent is ₹600. If the situation continues like this my rent will outweigh my returns. How can I sustain like this?” she asked. Tripthi, another transgender, was offered a job in housekeeping but she refused due to the pay-scale.
“I am staying in a one-room house on the outskirts of the city. Without an accommodation I can’t shuttle every day so I opted out,” she said. A spokesperson of Kochi Metro refused to comment. However, Kochi mayor, Soumini Jain, said she was not aware of the problem but she would take it up with metro and help find a solution.
