CHENNAI: In a path-breaking move, J Dhakshayani, a 30-year-old transwoman, has been reinstated as secretary of Koduveli panchayat at Ellapuram block of Tiruvallur district seven years after she left her job and home over fear of rejection by family.
Dhakshayani was born at Annambedu village in Poonamallee. “After our father abandoned us, my mother raised me and my brother by working as a construction labourer. As I wanted to start working early to support my mother, I joined as panchayat secretary of Annambedu at 19.
I enrolled for a BA History course at Annamalai University through distance education but couldn’t complete it,” Dhakshayani said. After she was transferred to Koduveli panchayat office in 2015, she decided to leave her home as she wanted to embrace her real self and found it difficult to pretend as a man.
‘I feared that my family may not accept it’
“I felt different when I was 16 but I couldn’t express it as I feared that my family may not accept it. So, I left my home and stayed with members of my community in various parts of the State,” she said. She underwent a gender-affirmation surgery in 2017 at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. “I travelled to various places including Nepal. When I came to Chennai in December 2019, a family friend saw me.
He said that my family has been searching for me and made me talk to my mother over phone,” she said. To her surprise, her mother and brother were happy to talk to her and asked her to come back home. Dhakshayani wanted to work and help her family financially, but several private companies refused to give her job due to her identity. “I decided to approach the government to get my old job back by writing a petition detailing why I had to leave.
Apart from giving petition to the CM’s special cell in 2021, we also met Minister for Milk and Dairy Development SM Naser who assured me help. I can live with honour now,” she said. “There are many transpeople who are educated. The government should take steps to ensure that get appropriate employment to live a dignified life,” she added.
Tiruvallur Collector Alby John said that they decided to give her the job back taking a gender-sensitive and compassionate view. We thought she had a valid reason to discontinue her job and decided to reinstate her. Koduveli panchayat president appreciated. A job fair for transgenders will also be considered,” he said.