The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, was drawn up to end discrimination against members of the transgender community in India. Ever since, the Supreme Court has recognised transgenders as the third gender, and, more recently, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has enabled transgenders to use their own choice of public toilets across all states. India is obviously taking an increasing number of measures to make sure transgenders are well-integrated into Indian community, and yet, formal sector employment opportunities for them are limited. Members of the transgender community still find it enormously difficult to get a good education and thus, to find well-paying, steady jobs. Project Vayati has taken their first step to increase employment opportunities for transgenders in the country.
As Homegrown learned from Sartaj Anand, a founder of a media and consulting firm, Egomonk, one of the core stakeholders in this project “A lack of vocational education forces many members of the community into begging and prostitution,”. This encouraged Egomonk to get in touch with the Solidarity Foundation, an organisation that works directly with the transgender community India.
The end result was Project Vayati – an effort to increase opportunities in formal sector employment for transgenders. Taking the idea to the Solidarity Foundation for them to implement was the perfect decision, because, according to Anand, members of the transgender community are weary of accepting help, for reasons that are justified. “They can’t help but think, ‘what’s in it for them?’, when someone approaches them claiming to help them.” Thanks to the Solidarity Foundation, Project Vayati was able to reach out to these members and implement a visible change.
This mission culminated in a 12-day program with around 10 member of the trans community from in and around Bangalore and Mysore, at the Don Bosco Skill Mission in Bangalore, that runs vocational training workshops for many other communities. The program for Project Vayati was an established one that focussed on building skills in communication and writing, as well as other soft skills and computer skills, as well as counselling.
Project Vayati was open to anyone who was a part of the transgender community, and was entirely voluntary for the participants. Of the final participants, the youngest was 27 and the oldest 50, all with different career backgrounds. “We had one participant, Dimple, who was in her late 30s. For 10 years, she had been a bar dancer in Bombay. Another participant in his late 40s had come to us after doing a series of jobs...We found that each person had their own unique interest – one wanted to be a receptionist, one a chef, another a gardener,” Anand says.
Anand tells us that the only difference in the way Don Bosco Mission ran Project Vayati versus the way they ran their training workshops for other communities, was the sensitivity that the trainers had, because they were serving a slightly more vulnerable community. “The fact that there was no major difference between the two was important – the people they’re dealing with aren’t different from any on else,” Anand explains.
Project Vayati didn’t focus on any particular career field; instead, it focussed on a general training that would empower the participants to enter any field they wanted to. “At the end of the training, we wanted them to be able to ask themselves, ‘can I get a job that pays me better than a gardener?’” They were left to decide where they wanted to go; what they wanted to become.
All 10 participants of Project Vayati have now been placed in jobs of their preference, including interior designing in Bangalore and training and facilitating at Don Bosco itself. “All of them really felt empowered,” Anand recalls. “Initially, you could sense their vulnerability, but after the project, they were convinced that they are worthwhile, they are significant. They’ve become more confident, and their vulnerability, to some degree, has been repaired.”
Project Vayati is now planning another series of workshops that they want to implement this year, especially since the other transgender members at the Solidarity Foundation are asking for it. An increasing number of corporate companies are well other organisations are reaching out to this project, as it is the perfect way for them to fulfil their LGBTQ requirement, by employing qualified, talented people. Anand wishes for people across the country to learn about the skilled participants of Project Vayati, and about the members of the transgender community as a whole – “Everyone should see how normal they are. They aren’t drag queens, as a lot of people tend to think they are. They are like everybody else, and yet, they are so ostracised.”
Efforts like Project Vayati are attempting to ensure that transgenders in the country become more confident about their abilities, and more integrated into the mainstream.