more-in Pongal festival turned out to be a day of celebrating inclusivity and sharing happiness in equal measure with fellow citizens. To bring everyone together, transgenders participated in Samathuva pongal at the Vivekananda Higher Secondary School here on Sunday. Organised by Junior Chamber International (JCI) in association with Sahodaran, an NGO working with the community, transgenders participated in the festivities. Attired in silk sarees, they lit a fire and cooked sweet pongal and ushered in the harvest festival. According to K. Sheethal, president of Sahodaran, “Transgenders have innate talents in them and crave to mingle with society and lead a dignified life. However, they are generally treated with scorn and there is a social stigma about the community. Holding of Samuthuva pongal is a good initiative as it would go a long way in infusing awareness about transgenders among the public. The festivities have provided a good platform for the transgenders to mingle freely with the mainstream society.” Sheethal added that they had fought to be recognised as the third gender. Transgenders face difficulties in accessing even basic amenities. No one is willing to provide them a house for rent in Puducherry. The society should provide them the opportunity to lead a normal life. Though Puducherry is a small Union Territory, the authorities here do not have data on transgender population. The Puducherry government should emulate neighbouring Tamil Nadu and come out with schemes for improving their living conditions and constitute a Welfare Board, she said. Transgenders also participated in various cultural events and competitions held as part of the festival. J.C.S. Balu, president of Puducherry chapter of JCI was also present. The harvest festival was celebrated with traditional gaiety and fervour in Puducherry on Saturday. Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi, Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy and former Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had greeted the people on the occasion. Ms. Bedi participated in the Pongal festivities at Alankuppam and TN Palayam. Mohanraj, General Manager, Mahindra Holidays, Puducherry, distributed 25 sets of garbage bins for source segregation of garbage. These bins will be placed throughout the village and the women took responsibility to maintain these. In addition, Team Mahindra has committed to conduct ongoing source segregation training for the residents of TN Palayam Village. Saplings provided by The Forest Department were distributed to the children for planting in the temple premises. A team from Arvind Eye Hospital also participated in the programmes.

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