For 30-year-old Harticka Thendral, a transwoman and an M. Tech graduate who runs a manpower agency, reaching out to more transpersons and getting them educated has been a dream. For N. Dhanraj, secretary of Rotary Club of Madras Coromandel who has been working with transgender persons for many years now, identifying their needs and facilitate their inclusion in little ways has been his pursuit for sometime. When their ideas met, the Rotary Club of Madras Elite was created. Now, a bunch of 25 transgender persons will begin running the Rotary Club of Madras Elite with the aim to help them with education and opportunities.
Hartica Thendral, secretary of Rotary Club of Madras Elite, says, “We are always looked at differently by society and are stereotyped into indulging only with specific activities. But this needs to change. Many transgender persons want to get educated, some yearn to start something of their own and the others desperately look for jobs. The first priority of this club is to identify those who dropped out of college after they came out of their family, with no funds to pay fees. We will propose the candidates and their necessities to the parent club, Rotary Club of Madras Coromandel and it will be implemented.” Apart from transgender community, they are keen on finding ways to support the tribal community in the city with education and other basic needs, she says.
Dhanraj N., secretary of the Rotary Club of Madras Coromandel, says they were keen on providing medical care, screening and awareness about a host of issues. “We plan to organise placement training and job fares. Also, we plan to set up a unit that will train transgender persons with a tailoring course for three months. For those who are keen on starting small business ventures, we will support that as well,” he adds.
