One Year On, Officials Want To Scale Up Trans Traffic Volunteer Programme
Volunteers see better pay and dignity, but promised posts and policy parity still lag.
Hyderabad: Almost 20 transgender persons joined Hyderabad Metro Rail as security staff on Monday, as the first batch of transgender traffic volunteers has completed almost a year. Trans Metro security staff earn about Rs 16,000 a month after provident fund deductions.
Activists and volunteers admit that income and visibility have improved, but policy decisions and parity benefits are still waiting in files. “People treat us well now,” said Nisha, one of the traffic volunteers. “It feels good to be seen, respected and given dignity.”
“Salaries were delayed once or twice and sometimes reached bank accounts only in the third week of the month, forcing them to borrow. But now salaries are regular,” they said.
Trans traffic volunteers earn about Rs 30,000 a month with allowances and extra duty.
Anil, an LGBTQIA+ activist who works with Mobbera Foundation and knows several of the recruits personally, said some have moved up in the system. “A few have shifted from temporary posts into home guard jobs in the police and have been told they can continue like any other home guard unless they choose to resign,” said Anil, adding, "That is a relief for those individuals, although gaps remain in how work is distributed.”
Police describe the pilot as something they want to extend, but cannot on their own.
Joint Commissioner of Traffic Joel Davis said the department has written to the Telangana government seeking approval to expand the volunteer programme to all three commissionerates. While the file waits, the department is trying a second track through the traffic marshal system.
“We are having this system of traffic marshals, and in that we are trying to include the transgenders,” he said. Traffic marshals are paid by companies that sponsor the posts, and Davis said those selected would be trained and paid about Rs 20,000 a month, and deployed on the roads. The total number will depend on how many corporates come forward, he added.
Traffic marshals, if corporates sponsor the posts, will be paid about Rs 20,000 a month.
Rachana Mudraoyina, who is a trans rights activist in the city, said that community groups had been told there would be around 100 more traffic posts for transgender applicants around five months back, but that nothing has been announced so far.
She said the promise was made when C.V. Anand was the commissioner of police and that the change in leadership has slowed things down. “They promised a hundred more posts, but no notification has been released yet,” she said.
