Sanashree, a final year student of journalism at St Joseph’s Evening College, had applied for the subsidised student bus pass three years ago, when she was in the first year. Today, just months away from graduation, the city’s public transport service, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), has still not issued her a bus pass. The reason: her gender. Sanashree is a transgender woman.
The BMTC has refused to issue her a student’s concessional bus pass even though she is eligible for one, and has all the necessary documents. “The first year, in 2015, the officer refused to believe that I was studying. In front of hundreds of other students, including my classmates in the queue, he said we usually walk the streets, even though I had all the required documents from the college. I felt so humiliated,” said the 25-year-old.
“The second year, in 2016, my application was rejected because my Aadhar card had my gender as transgender, while college records had it as female. The officer refused to accept my identity as a female. It was the same story when I applied for a discounted pass in the third year,” said Sanashree, for whom even enrolling in the college had been an uphill task.
Sanashree lives in Dasarahalli, which is 16 km from her college. The average cost of a two-way commute comes to around ₹70 a day, as each way she has to change a bus. The subsidised pass costs ₹1,610 for 12 months, or ₹4.4 per day. Unable to bear the expenses, Sanashree walks much of the way, or hitches a ride home with strangers, which entails exposing herself to the risk of sexual harassment.
When contacted, V Ponnuraj, managing director, BMTC, said the Corporation as a policy does not refuse services to anybody, and that they would rectify any anomalies concerning specific cases.
Sanashree said that her friends from the transgender community have also experienced discrimination when trying to use BMTC services. “Bus conductors, in many cases, don’t let them in,” she said.
She finally approached the city mayor R Sampath Raj for help. “I was shocked to learn that this meritorious student has been denied a bus pass for three years. I spoke to the BMTC management, and they have promised to set it right,” the mayor said.
Akkai Padmashali, a noted leader of the transgender community, said that they regularly face problems in buses. “There is always an issue regarding where to sit, in the men’s or the women’s seats. While we identify as female, no woman sits next to us. A few years ago, a woman just got up and walked away when I answered my phone in the bus. Until that moment she had thought I was a woman. Such discrimination is rampant,” Akkai said.
