CHENNAI: Two transwomen on Friday submitted a petition at the Chief Minister’s Special cell seeking assistance to pursue Ph.D and to get government job.
S Neaye Joseph (30), a microbiologist, and S Selvi Santhosam (32), a physiotherapist, were the nation’s first transgenders to be employed in the government institution, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in 2014. “I earn only `7,500 per month,” said Neaye, who works at the blood bank in the hospital on a contract basis. According to her, a permanent sweeper at the hospital would get more salary.
“How can I study Ph.D with this salary?” she questioned as she added she was paying around `3000 per month as the interest amount for the loans she had taken for education. She holds an Msc degree in microbiology along with B.Ed. Last month, the High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Social Welfare Department to consider a 3% quota for transgender people in education and employment by creating a separate category for them.
“We want special reservation. How can we compete with everyone in the society which always wants to exclude us?” she said. Most of the transgenders choose the wrong way only because they have not been given good opportunities for better life, they added.
Selvi Santhosam, a native of Kallakurichi in Tirunalveli district, has more than five years experience as a physiotherapist.