Bhopal: Sanjana Singh Rajput adjusts her sari as she sits in a chair outside her house in Ashoka Garden. She has just come back from her office at the department of social justice and disability welfare.Sanjana scripted history by becoming the first transgender to be employed in government service in Madhya Pradesh. She has been employed as a personal secretary to social justice department director Krishna Gopal Tiwari.Wearing a confident smile, Sanjana said, “This is as good as it gets and a step towards bringing the transgender community into the societal fold. It is not a hidden fact that there is a problem in people's mindset in accepting us. The only way to bring the transgender community into the mainstream is by letting people see us do normal things, like working in office and studying.”Born and raised in Bhopal, she recalls: “Growing up, I remember being bullied. People used to call me and my family names. It led to the discontinuation of my studies after Class 12. I even had to move away from my family,” said the 36-year-old.“My family always accepted me. A child is a child for a mother, no matter how they are. It is people who make a transgender feel bad. The constant remarks from relatives and neighbours always remind us that we are different,” said Sanjana. “But, this made me strong,” she said.“I wanted to do something to tackle the negativity and joined an NGO as a volunteer. I learnt the work, and started helping people from the transgender community. Slowly, I got promoted and I was made the outreach partner. We dealt with health issues people of the community face and educated them about contraception and safe sex. Later, I worked as a counsellor, through which I came in contact with the social justice department and was offered a job,” said Sanjana.Sanjana is also known for spreading awareness on the Swachh mission and is working for an open defecation-free Bhopal. She talked about improving sanitation levels in the city and stressed on the lack of it in under-represented communities.“Since the transgender community is socially ostracized, we have to take care of our own health, education and other basic needs. The health indicators of the community are still very dismal. Government has done its part by making laws, but laws are meaningless without social sanctions,” said Sanjana.Citing the example of the Supreme Court order on Section 377, Sanjana said, “It is a great feeling that the apex court has finally let it be known that we are also humans with equal rights. But, even now, many people from our community are not aware of the same.”“To bring any community to the forefront, education plays a key role. Very few from the transgender community are educated and this means they do not have the option of finding employment. Transgender kids are bullied from an early age, which makes it difficult for them to get education. How many schools do you know that have a transgender kid studying?” Sanjana asked.“After getting this job, I realized that I want to study and am pursuing BA from IGNOU, which will help me in the future. Since I work in the social justice department, I hope I can give insights that will help my community. In the last 10 days, we have already spoken about plans and areas that we can work on in future for bringing the community into the mainstream. To improve the lifestyle of our community just by 15%, we need to put in 85% effort,” said Sanjana.Talking about her new job, she said, “It is a new experience for everyone, but my colleagues are accepting it. They come to me and converse and this is how things change for the better.”

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