Meet India's 1st ever Transgender Presiding Officer
The 5th phase of West Bengal Assembly polls, 2016 is a watershed for the 3rd gender community as for the first time one of them has been made Presiding Officer for a booth in South Kolkata.
"We are calling it the transgender booth because Riya Sarkar, transgender, will be the presiding officer. She will now be part of history of the inclusion of the transgender community into the mainstream society", said Smt. Smita Pandey, District Election Officer, Kolkata South.
Smt. Sarkar was posted at 260, South City International School Polling Station which falls under 160, Rashbehari Assembly Constituency during the above mentioned poll.
A history teacher at Dum Dum Prachaya Bani Mandir for Boys School, she was born as Pankaj Sarkar and went for a sex realignment surgery in 2014 to became Riya Sarkar.
"It is a big honour not only for me but for the entire transgender community. I am very happy and proud on being given this task by the Election Commission of India", Ms Sarkar said.
Shri Amitjyoti Bhattacharya, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal said all sections of the society are being encouraged to be part of the electoral process. "When it comes to us there is no discrimination at all anywhere", he added.
Smt. Pandey, who was earlier the Joint Secretary of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board, said the initiative is a message for the entire community to come out and own their identity publically. It's just that they're not getting enough opportunities. "This inclusion in polling process will be a part of their social engineering experience", she said.