By Vivek Joseph
Hyderabad: A Montfort institute in Hyderabad has pressed the Telangana government to vaccinate the transgender community as a priority.
“The vulnerability of the trans community, who have faced centuries of structural violence and marginalization, has increasingly deepened over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Montfort Brother Varghese Theckanath, director of Montfort Social Institute in Hyderabad, capital of Telangana state.
The state government included transpersons in the priority list for vaccination as a result of concerted efforts of the institute of the Brothers of St. Gabriel.
Brother Theckanath pointed out that many transpersons who were engaged in traditional professions such as begging and sex-work have lost their sources of income because of the pandemic and lockdown.
This caused financial strain in the community that already faced pre-existing barriers to medical access. “This has meant that for many in the community obtaining necessary preventive care, medication and treatment during the pandemic have become a nightmare,” said the brother, a social activist.
The Montfort Social Institute and Trans-Equality Society, a registered NGO, conducted vaccination drive in Hyderabad on June 11 and in Medchal district four days later.
The vaccine drive in Secunderabad held in City College was opened by Sweta Mohanty, the District Collector. Speaking on the occasion she said the government would make efforts to establish dignified livelihood options for the members of the transgender community.
The community’s networks, and organizations working for and with the trans community, have pressed for a change in the situation. During the pandemic, the Montfort institute had launched a massive relief program that sought to provide rations and alternative self-employment opportunities for the trans-community.
Brother Theckanath said they identified medical aid as a more pertinent problem that needed to be addressed during the second wave. This led the institute to advocate for inclusion of the transgender community in the government’s priority list, he explained. The state government accepted the proposal and authorized district collectors to vaccinate all members of the community on a priority basis, he added.
The Department for Welfare of Disabled and Senior Citizens in collaboration with Montfort Social Institute and Trans-Equality Society has organized a series of vaccination drives in different locations in the State.
Subhagata Das, a transwoman, was the first person to register and be vaccinated at the drive in City College, Hyderabad. An educator, Subhagata saw the drive as an important step to address the immense vulnerability that trans persons have faced in the midst of a pandemic considering, in particular, that many lack familial support.
“The vaccine drives and attention to medical care for the community must, however, be the beginning of a broader effort by the government and other organisations to address the vulnerabilities of the community, the most pressing being economic”, Subhagata said.
“There is an urgent need for more and more individuals and organisations including faith based communities to come forward to assist the trans-community not only to access medical care, but also to help them find their identity and to resolve their livelihood issues”, said Mukunda Mala, a key organizer of the vaccine drive for the community.
She applauded the Montfort institute for providing alternative livelihood programs for the trans community. “The immediate need” she said, “is to organize awareness and sensitization programs for government departments, students and youth about the situation of the transgender community, so that there is better awareness among them on the issues of the community and the will to resolve them.”