KOCHI: Soon, the Ernakulam district will have an exclusive clinic for the transgender community. An initiative of the Ernakulam District Panchayat, it is claimed to be the first such clinic by a district panchayat in the state. The move came in the wake of a report that transgender people are still reluctant to attend hospitals for treatments.
“Even though society is more open to the transgender community, many of them are still reluctant to attend hospitals for treatment. Since they are struggling to fit into the mainstream, the Ernakulam district panchayat wants to bring about a change by setting up an exclusive clinic for transgender people. This is the first time a district panchayat has come up with such an initiative,” said Ullas Thomas, district panchayat president.
The panchayat is also planning to make the clinic unique by appointing only transgender people as staff. “ We have already started discussions with the experts to make it a transgender-exclusive clinic. If there are doctors and other medical staff among the transgender community, we will make it a complete transgender clinic,” Ullas added.
The district panchayat, which has set aside Rs 20 lakh for the project, will implement it with the support of the Social Justice Department and NGOs. The clinic, which will be set up in the heart of the city, will be equipped with doctors, nurses, and counsellors. “We have already invited expressions of interest from NGOs in the state.
The functioning of the clinic will be completely under the NGOs. The district panchayat will provide all the facilities, including the staff and funds to meet the running costs. We will be able to launch the project within a few months,” said Joseph Alexander, junior superintendent of the district panchayat.
Meanwhile, the panchayat is also planning to arrange more facilities in the upcoming clinic by providing sex-change surgery. “The project will take a new dimension in the near future,” Joseph added.