Toilet for transgenders put on hold till polls

Julie Mariappan / TNN / Mar 11, 2009, 04:32 IST

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Mayor M Subramanian had announced the plan with much fanfare in his budget speech in February, a week before of the election dates were announced.

Toilet for transgenders put on hold till polls

CHENNAI: It was dubbed the country's first public lavatory for transgenders. But the much-publicised project of the Chennai Corporation, proposed to be constructed at Saidapet, has been put on hold, thanks to the model code of conduct in force for the general elections.
Mayor M Subramanian had announced the plan with much fanfare in his budget speech in February, a week before of the election dates were announced.
Estimates were prepared about Rs 12 lakh for each block with ten units but the Election Commission's announcement of Lok Sabha poll schedule means that the corporation cannot proceed with the project.
"The project was planned based on the representations from the community. We propose to set up the first lavatory in a slum in Saidapet near the Adyar river," he had told TOI then.

The plan was to extend the facility to Pulianthoppe, Perambur and Kilpauk zones which have sizeable transgender populations.
Corporation officials have asked some non-governmental organisations to identify the areas which need such lavatories. "They (transgenders) are also part of our community. We can no longer isolate them. Their requirements have to be met," corporation commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni told TOI.

The move has invoked a mixed response from transgenders. Muthammal (67) of Saidapet is ecstatic. "At last, the government is looking at our pitiable state. Hope the project takes shape before my last breath."
Others like P Shakthi Devi, a transgender and member of the Central Social Welfare Board, felt the proposal would do little to bring the community to the mainstream, a goal for which they had been fighting all along. "If the authorities sympthasise with our needs, they can allot a unit in the existing public toilets for us and not build exclusive blocks for us in public places," said Devi.
Priya Babu, a member of the recently-launched Aravanigal Welfare Board, also felt the move would cut off the community from the rest of society.
But Lakhoni felt otherwise. "When we do not know the exact number of transgenders in the city and their spread, blocking units specially for them is impossible," he said. It is estimated that there are at least a few thousand transgenders in the city of around 65 lakh people.

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