Raipur: In a first, the Bharat Aluminum Company (Balco) hired four members from the transgender community on Friday. The four, Bhawani Rathia, Asha Vishwakarma, Kanishka Sona and Roopa Kurre, will work as forklift operators with the public sector undertaking's contractual company MS Gears India Limited, The Indian Express reported.
After her transition to female from male, Bhawani Rathia had left her parents' house in Raigarh last year. Her change was against her parents' wishes as well as knowledge, but she left them despite being doubtful about getting a job. She found shelter at Garim grih, which served trans people and learnt many things, including cooking to spoken English, she applied for jobs from there.
Member of state third gender welfare board and director of Chhattisgarh Mitwa Sankalp Samiti, Vidya Rajput, said that the mentioned four were their second batch of women who have received employment. She noted that 13 trans people were inducted into Chhattisgarh police last year.
"When we recently got a call from Balco evincing interest, we were genuinely happy. Today, four of the community members have received their passes with much respect and felicitation, which is a big day for us," she said.
Balco CEO Abhijit Pati responded with all praises to the trans community for bringing a new social change and clearing myths inside the company. Industries run on skills but not on gender. Skills are cultivated by hard work, and Balco is ready to include the ignored third gender into their task force, he said.
Bhawani said that the job was a new beginning and had a good start. They were treated well and received a lot of respect. She said they are heavily grateful for accepting them, and she is glad to have a job in Balco.