New Delhi: Railways took an initiative to start a trans tea stall at Guwahati Railway Station. The tea stall will be fully managed and operated by transgender persons. As per the North East Frontier Railways’ spokesperson, Sabyasachi De, NEFR took this initiative to empower the transgender community.
NEFR collaborated with the All Assam Transgender Association to set up the trans tea stall. The tea stall is present at platform number 1 of the station and was inaugurated by NF Railway GM Anshul Gupta. Anshul Gupta said that this is first of its kind initiative by a government organisation.
Swati Bidhan Baruah, the associate vice-chairman of the Assam Transgender Welfare Board, said that she is hopeful that more transgender people will be rehabilitated under such government schemes in the coming time.
Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw also tweeted about the tea stall and announced the first ‘trans tea stall’ at a railway platform in India.
India’s first “Trans Tea Stall” at a railway platform.
?Guwahati Railway Station pic.twitter.com/JSi8OS9VKM
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) March 13, 2023
North East Frontier Railways also plans to open more such tea stalls at other railway stations in the region.
The Centre-approved scheme Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Entreprise included a sub-scheme for the welfare and rehabilitation of transgender people. More such initiatives might be seen in the future as well.
In India, transgender people are a minority and marginalised due to the social stigma, government taking such initiatives is a step towards social inclusion and rehabilitation of the community. On the other hand, the Centre, in an affidavit in Supreme Court, opposed the idea of same-sex marriage on the idea of marriage being an institution while the Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta also argued for marriage between biological men and biological women.
Among other arguments of right to equality, Senior Advocate KV Viswanathan also put forth the Transgender Protection Act to argue in favour of same-sex marriages. The hearing for the case will now take place from April 18 onwards.
