Transgenders Might Soon Be Seen Assisting the Kolkata Police. Here’s How

People belonging to the transgender community in West Bengal might soon be seen working along with the Kolkata Police, assisting them in various roles. This is the latest step taken by the state for the advancement of the community.

By Tanaya Singh

October 3, 2015

In an attempt to fight the stigma and discrimination associated with the transgender community, the West Bengal government has asked Kolkata Police to take a wonderful step. The government has requested the police department to recruit transgenders in the Civic Police Volunteer Force (CPVC).

Thus, if everything goes as planned, members of the community will soon be seen helping the Kolkata Police in fulfilling several duties.

Picture for representation only. Photo Credit: R Barraez D´Lucca/Flickr

Shashi Panja, state minister for women and child development, informed The Indian Express that she spoke with the Kolkata Police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha, and they discussed the idea after it was brought up in a meeting of West Bengal Transgender Development Board.

CPVC was introduced by the Kolkata Municipality in 2008 with the primary aim of assisting Kolkata Police in traffic management. Duties of CPVC collecting information about unauthorised parking, controlling pedestrian movement etc. And the Transgender Welfare Development Board was set up in July 2014 after the Supreme Court order which recognised transgender as the third gender.

The board recommended that Kolkata police should begin by taking in volunteers, and after the required training they can be made a part of CPVC.

In addition to the Kolkata police proposal, the department also plans to include more people from the transgender community among the judges of Kolkata Shree, which is an annual competition to reward the best Durga Puja celebration in the state.

All these moves are a part of the long term efforts by the department to include members of the transgender community in respected roles in the society. The West Bengal government has been setting a very commendable example by taking many steps for the betterment of people belonging to this community. Right from setting up a dedicated department, to appointing Manabi Bandopadhyay as the principal of Krishnagar Women’s College, making her the first transgender principal in India, the state is leaving no stones unturned.

“The prime issue that we face is that people don’t have respect for the transgender community. But if they are incorporated as volunteers in the civic police force, then it will gradually allow people to imagine them in different roles,” Shashi Panja told The Indian Express.

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