BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday signed an agreement with a transgender group to get the cesspool operations (extracting and transporting faecal sludge) of the city handled by members of the third gender.
The transgender community has earlier proved its mettle by partnering with BMC for collection of holding tax from big defaulters. Their special qualities helped BMC recover long-pending holding tax dues. The transgender community has also formed a self-help group (SHG).
This time, operation of maintenance of cesspool vehicle has been entrusted with the transgender people considering their sincerity and hard work in parking management and holding tax collection. The BMC has provided them with nine cesspool vehicles. People, who apply online for cesspool vehicle for their faecal waste to be extracted, pay Rs 1,000 for a trip. Now, this money will be directed towards the group’s account and all applications of cesspool requests will be forwarded to them.
“It is yet another opportunity and challenge to take up operation of sludge extraction and transportation. We will take the cesspool booking amount and maintain and operate it. The margin will be ours,” said transgender Meghna. The technical staff will be from BMC and their 10 members will look after the accounts.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights
