KOCHI: The initiative by the Kochi City Police and the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to provide employment to the transgender community in the Kochi Metro has received a lukewarm response, with only a few coming forward to accept the offer.
The situation has forced the police to issue another reminder on Friday, urging members of the transgender community in the State to submit application without delay as several posts meant for them remain vacant.
Transgenders in the city had organised a mass agitation around two months ago, after the police launched a crackdown against them for allegedly engaging in prostitution. They raised concern that they were forced to engage in prostitution due to lack of employment opportunities, which prompted the police and the KMRL to chalk out a scheme to provide them employment in the Kochi Metro.
Though two months have passed since the notification, the police received only 32 applications from the community, while statistics show that there are around 100 transgenders in Kochi. The majority of them hail from the other parts of the State.
"Initially, we had earmarked 75 vacancies in the Kochi Metro for transgenders, with an option to increase the number if needed. While the original plan was to employ only transgenders based in Kochi, due to the weak response we had decided to accept application from those hailing from other of the State also. Despite that, the response is very weak," said Assistant Commissioner of Police Ammose Mamman.
According to police officials, transgenders will be provided job based on their educational qualification. Those who are postgraduates will be posted in office.
"The vacancies are in housekeeping, ticket counter and office work. They will be provided training before joining duty. The Kerala State Legal Service Authority (KLSA) has also decided to provide training to them," said police officials.