Bhopal: Exclusive toilet for third gender well maintained but rendered unused by the local trans-community

Bhopal(Madhya Pradesh): It has been nearly five years since the country's second toilet exclusively for the third gender was inaugurated in the city. The public toilet situated in the middle of the Mangalwara market is well maintained and cleaned properly every day, however, the local transgenders do not find it of much use as they reside nearby and prefer using their own toilet rather than a public one, even if it is solely for them.  

The country’s second toilet for the third gender was inaugurated on October 2, 2017 in the state capital.

The toilet was constructed in the area keeping in view that transgender community resided there, however, for the same reason the toilet is not being used by the third gender members as their dera – the houses where they live- is hardly 10 minutes away. Around 100 transgenders reside in the area. They live in groups called ‘deras’ and are headed by their respective leader.

 Toilets are clean and sanitized, says caretaker: Sheela Bai has been taking care of the third-gender toilet since its inauguration. She told Free Press that “The washroom is regularly cleaned and people of the trans community use it every day.” Bai added, “Once, one of the toilet doors broke, but the municipal authorities immediately replaced it. I have been working here for a very long, and I feel it is a good initiative by the government, and I never faced or felt any negligence neither by the authorities nor by the people.”

Doesn’t serve the purpose, nobody uses it, says Suraiya Naik: Suraiya Naik, who is in her 50s, is the chief of the trans community of Mangalwara. While talking to Free Press, she said, “the entire trans community lives in our dera. We have around ten toilets in our ‘dera’, then why would we use a public toilet. No one from our community uses the public toilet, and it is useless. Before making the toilet here, the government should have thought that our homes are just 10 minutes away.”

(Contributions from Minal Tomar & Apoorva Chakrayat)