Of the 37 lakh voters enlisted in the 144 wards of Kolkata, the number of those belonging to the gender described as ‘other’ is 20. Ranjita Sinha is one of them who came out for voting in the Municipal Elections on Saturday. At ward number 71 in Elgin Road area, she proudly held her photo identity card.
Speaking to The Hindu she raised the question why the members of community, whose number is in lakhs, do not find their names in the voting list.
“The Supreme Court has given us the right of third gender. However, in Lok Sabha polls held in 2014 our number in West Bengal’s electoral rolls was 513 and in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation polls it was 20,” Ranjita said.
Stating that the organisation she works – Association of Transgender & Hizra in West Bengal -- has 20,000 members, Ranjita said their number in the voting list is in no way reflection of their percentage of the population.
Ranjita expressed her unhappiness over the announcement of the Transgender Welfare Board by the State government just before the polls.
“The government claims that it is the first transgender welfare board but we are yet to know what the board is about and who its members are,” Ranjita asked.
