HYDERABAD: A transgender woman has taken it upon herself to reach out to every member of her community in the twin cities to ensure that they do not go hungry during the lockdown. Samantha Reddy, who has been driving a seven-seater autorickshaw for the last five years for a living, covered 1,500 km in the last 20 days, delivering essentials to her community members and linking the donations received from the government and beneficiaries to the most disadvantaged section of the society.
“Many in my community have lost their livelihood due to the lockdown. Not everyone has large savings,” said Samantha, who volunteers with NGO Trans Equality Society. Samantha’s day starts at 10 am, when she gets a list of donors. She starts her journey from her home at Ibrahimpatnam, on the city’s outskirts, and picks up the items from donors. She then heads out to distribute these to the beneficiaries.
“We received support from the government. In fact, this is the first time they have recognised us and even the Chief Minister said they would help us. Even the police gave us passes so that we don’t face an issue,” she said. So far, she and a few other transgender activists distributed 15 days of grocery kits to nearly 400 beneficiaries.
“The main issue is that most transgender persons do not have an ID proof or any linkage with food security schemes as their birth names and transgender names are different. In such a situation, the community and like-minded people have risen to the occasion,” Rachana Mudraboyina, one of the activists helping Samantha, said.