'Inclusion Key To Successful Democracy': Transgender Polling Official

A successful democracy is formed with the inclusion of all "votes and voters" during an election, Radha, a transgender polling official from Vellachery assembly segment in South Chennai, said at the NDTV 'Indian of the Year Awards 2024'.

The transwoman, who currently works as a junior assistant in the state's social welfare department, at the Chennai district collectorate, stressed that the inclusion of the transgender community in the country's electorate is the "need of the hour" and they should be equally entitled to voting rights, like other citizens. 

"Voters should also be from the transgender section of the society since the Constitution of India provides equal voting rights to all. Inclusion of such voters has become the need of the hour," Radha, who was one of the polling officials who were honoured with the NDTV 'Indian of the Year Awards 2024', said.

"I, as a polling official, seek to include all such voters and encourage them to participate in large numbers," Radha added.

According to PTI, Radha was the lone transgender candidate from South Chennai parliamentary constituency in Tamil Nadu during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. 

In the run up to the polls that year, she said that more transgender persons are coming out in the open with their identity, after the Supreme Court in 2018 decriminalised part of Section 377 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, that criminalised consensual unnatural sex. 

Her entry into politics, Radha had said, could encourage more members of the community to do the same.

The transwoman, who earlier was a cook by profession, was keen on raising women's issues in the Lower House if she was elected. She, however, garnered a little over 1,000 votes and lost the polls. 

According to the Election Commission, in a bid to abide by its "no voter be left behind" mandate, necessary efforts have been undertaken to ensure the inclusion of all sections of society in the electoral process.

Over 48,000 transgenders were eligible to cast their votes during the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the poll body said. 

The Union government has also taken several measures to bring about a more inclusive environment for gender minorities. In August this year, it formulated India's first equal opportunities policy for the transgender community, which prohibits disclosure of gender identity of a transgender without consent.

The second edition of the Trans Employment Mela was held in Delhi in March, which was organised by the Transgender Welfare Equity and Empowerment Trust Foundation and InHarmony, along with the ministry of social justice and empowerment and the National Institute of Social Defence. 

The event sought to bring together organisations from various sectors, including private, governmental, international, and bilateral entities, for providing a platform to over 100 highly competitive and professional job seekers from the transgender community.