Chennai: Tamil Nadu became the first state in the country recently to have in its service a transgender sub-inspector when 25-year-old K. Pritika Yashini took charge in Dharmapuri district in April.
The progressive precedent set by the state and Yashini’s success story has encouraged applications from the third gender to join police services. “Twenty seven transgenders were issued hall tickets by the board among 6.32 lakh aspirants,” a senior official at the state Uniform Services Recruitment Board (USRB) told DC.
M. Durgasri from Chennai is among the 27 transgender aspirants, who appeared for the state USRB exam on Sunday. For the 24-year-old, who grew up in Kannagi Nagar in Chennai, becoming a cop is as much a matter of identity and vanity as it is about a stable employment. Durgasri left home five years ago and is staying alone and she wants to wear the police uniform whenever she visits her parents’ home, also in Kannagi Nagar.
“The police uniform would help me come over a five-year struggle,” Durgasri said. Born as Dinesh (name changed) to a casual labourer couple- Munusamy and Kala, the family moved to Kannagi Nagar from Tiruvannamalai when he was in Class five. Around the same time, Dinesh started to identify himself as a female. It would be another five years before this boy from a conservative low income group family to open up to his parents about his gender identity.
“There was a furore and the fact that I have two young sisters who would also have to face backlash from society used to hurt me,” Durgasri said.
Durgasri dropped out after class 12 and started to live separately from her parents, surviving on odd jobs. She was still in touch with the family though, visiting them often. “It is one of my father’s wishes to see his son as a policeman. He thought being part of the police is valorous,” Durgasri said.
She made an attempt to join the Tamil Nadu Police Youth Brigade two years ago, but failed. However, motivation and help came to her in the form of khaki itself. “Inspector of Kannagi Nagar Police station Mr Vivekanandan encouraged me and helped me a lot over the past year,” Durgasri said.
In the past five years, whenever Durgasri had to visit her parents, she had to dress like a man (shirt and dhoti) on her parents’ insistence. Clearing the USRB exam and becoming a police constable would mean that she needn’t have to forsake her identity for the khaki is gender neutral.
