Bhopal: In an interesting development, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday announced to rope in third gender community members to spread awareness among the people on different government programmes, particularly the Swachchh Bharat Mission, in the state.
The transgender members would be hired on honorarium basis to join the campaign to spread awareness among the people particularly in rural areas on cleanliness drive and other government sponsored welfare programmes, Mr Chouhan declared while inaugurating the trans-toilet, for exclusive use of the third gender members, here on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Monday.
After Mysore, Bhopal is the second city in the country where a separate toilet has been built for the third gender. Constructed at a cost of Rs 37 lakh, the trans-toilet facility has a separate make-up room for them. “More such toilets are planned in other places in state”, Mr Chouhan said.
Official sources said the decision to employ the third gender members particularly for cleanliness drive has been taken keeping in view significance given to the community in various social occasions such as marriages and birth of children particularly in rural areas.
“People in remote areas take transgender community members seriously out of reverence. Hence, the government has decided to hire them for cleanliness drive under the Swachchh Bharat Mission,” sources added.
