ADALYA JOURNAL ISSN NO: 1301-2746 Remarkable Relief Measures Pronounced by the Political Party ‘Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’ (DMK) for the Welfare of the Transgenders of Tamil Nadu R.Steffi Ph.D. Research Scholar Department of English, Periyar University Salem, Tamil Nadu, India [email protected] Dr. V. Sangeetha Professor and Head Department of English, Periyar University Salem, Tamil Nadu, India The political parties in Tamil Nadu have a long history to be cherished. A few parties acclaim the historical heritage. They are one with the people of Tamil Nadu; they have united families, befriended people, business assortments and even paved way for marriage proposals. Most importantly it has given efficient leaders to the state. The political leaders and the parties of Tamil Nadu are being praised by the political parties of other states too. The two political masses that the land has inherited over the years are the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Both the parties are possessing a strong alliance since its inception. Among the two political parties the paper aims to focus on the accomplishments of DMK, which is presently holding the position of a strong opposing party in Tamil Nadu. The party has contributed enormously for the welfare of the Dravidians. They have done pioneering deeds for the people of Tamil Nadu. The leaders of the party such as C.N. Annadurai, E.V. Volome 8, Issue 12, December 2019 534 http://adalyajournal.com/ ADALYA JOURNAL ISSN NO: 1301-2746 Ramaswamy Naicker and Kalaignar Karunanidhi have rendered selfless service for the people of Tamil Nadu. The party has offered support through its various welfare systems to the people who were marginalised based on caste, class and gender. The noble thoughts of the party’s veterans have rendered liberty to the people. The DMK party has made welfare possible for the people living in the fringes of the society. The relief measures and welfare schemes sanctioned by DMK for both men and women without any gender bias are noteworthy. The support and recognition that the party has given and continues to give to the Transgender community of Tamil Nadu are remarkable. The efforts taken for it are imbibed by the party’s present leaders too. It has also been taken forward by other parties in Tamil Nadu and by the political parties outside the state. Tamil Nadu remains outstanding in exhibiting progression among the transgenders and in projecting a fair status of transgenders when compared to the other state. Therefore the objective of the research paper is to enlist the various merits of DMK in enhancing the welfare of the transgenders of Tamil Nadu. The welfare for transgenders was vividly initiated by former Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi. He adorned them with a respectful name. He was the first person to give them the name ‘Thirunangai’, the term that originates from the Tamil language. The two syllables ‘thiru’ and ‘nangai’ constitute the word thirunangai; ‘thiru’ denotes the respectful term in Tamil addressed to a person which is equivalent to ‘Mr’ in English and ‘nangai’ refers to a woman who is great amongst the women. The term thirunangai has also been conceived with other similar meanings. “Karunanidhi didn’t just call transgender people “aravani,” their traditional name, but addressed them as “thirunangai,” a respectful term that can be translated as “mister lady” ” Volome 8, Issue 12, December 2019 535 http://adalyajournal.com/ ADALYA JOURNAL ISSN NO: 1301-2746 (Merelli). The term gave independence to transwomen who were abused verbally with derogatory words. It has provided them the correct recognition and respect. The term thirunangai and its connotations are similar to the word ‘Hijra’ that addresses transgenders in the northern parts of the country. ‘Hijra’ is explained with its meaning by Laxminarayan Tripathi, a transwoman in her memoir Me Hijra, Me Laxmi. “ The word ‘hij’ refers to the soul, a holy soul. The body in which the holy soul resides is called ‘hijra’” (Tripathi 39). The concept of “mister lady” relating to thirunangai is similar to Laxmi’s understanding of hijra and the concept underlying it. “ A hijra is neither a man nor a woman. She is feminine, but not a woman. He is masculine, a male by birth, but not a man either” (Tripathi 40). It can be witnessed that the approach of DMK towards the upheaval of the transgender community is unique and is welcomed by the transgenders. Besides pronouncing schemes to control HIV/AIDS among transgenders, the DMK party exhibits a different approach towards the transgenders and it is rewarding too. Kalaignar Karunanidhi who was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 2008 amended schemes that were proclaimed for the first time in the history of Tamil Nadu. He established a welfare board for the transgenders which was not only the first in the state but in the country. Tamil Nadu State government has shown unprecedented efforts to address the social protection needs of aravani or thirunangai (male-to-female transgender people). In April 2008, Tamil Nadu Aravanigal (Transgender) Welfare Board was formed as the nodal body to address the social protection needs of transgender people. TGWB has introduced TG-specific schemes of its own and has facilitated transgender people’s access to existing social protection schemes of the State and Central government. (Chakrapani) Volome 8, Issue 12, December 2019 536 http://adalyajournal.com/ ADALYA JOURNAL ISSN NO: 1301-2746 “A confluence of several factors contributed to the formation for Tamil Nadu Transgender Welfare Board (TGWB). These factors ranged from gain in the political support as a legitimate minority, increase in the acceptance of the general public and mass media, and advocacy efforts of transgender community leaders and activists and civil society” (Chakrapani). The joint efforts brought in by the political influence for the Transgender Welfare Board sets a model for other states in the country to act in a similar way towards the transgender community. The board’s objectives are catering to the primary needs of the transgender community. Fulfilling the primary needs will accentuate the standard of living of the community and will leave them with the ability to meet their further needs. TGWB addresses these needs as: - an agency that designs and implements schemes exclusively for TG people focusing on income/employment, housing, education and health care needs of TG people. - a platform to bring various government departments together to discuss what can be done to address these basic needs by allowing access to government’s pre- existing services, schemes, or institutions for TG people – thus trying to end the social exclusion and marginalization of TG populations. (Chakrapani) The benefits of the Transgender Welfare Board are being benefited by the transgenders and is evident when the beneficiaries project it through the media. One such article that discloses the beneficiaries of the welfare board is the testimony of a transwoman named Saroja, that has been recorded on Mr.Karunanidhi’s demise in the year 2018. Volome 8, Issue 12, December 2019 537 http://adalyajournal.com/ ADALYA JOURNAL ISSN NO: 1301-2746 “Beyond just being respected, we could enjoy government benefits because he gave us voting rights,” she said. Having a voter ID, with their gender on it facilitated them to apply for other ID proofs, she said. A grateful Saroja, said she now lived in a settlement created for them by the late DMK leader. “Without his inclusive welfare schemes, we would have lived in huts and other areas which made us vulnerable to exploitation,” she said, crying. It was during Karunanidhi’s rule in 2008, Tamil Nadu established the country’s first-ever Transgender Persons Welfare Board. The board gave recognition to the third-gender for the first time through the “Aravani identity card”, allowing them to apply for family cards, voter IDs, and other documents. (Ramakrishnan) Another article is about M Radha, a transwoman who contested in elections; who implemented her life with the beneficiaries awarded by the welfare board. M Radha is a post graduate degree holder aged 38 and is the first transgender candidate to contest in elections in Tamil Nadu. If she feels empowered to stand for election, says Radha, it’s because of something that happened in 2008: Her gender got a name. Until then, people used terms such as “ussu,“”pottai” (“impotent man”), “oothu“— all derogatory—for transgender persons. Things changed that year with the arrival of M Karunanidhi as Tamil Nadu chief minister. He established the country’s first transgender person welfare board and later provided third gender people an identity card. (Merelli) Volome 8, Issue 12, December 2019 538 http://adalyajournal.com/ ADALYA JOURNAL ISSN NO: 1301-2746 A cis gender too acclaims the changes brought about by DMK for the transgender’s existence. Nila, an advisor of Radha’s and a transgender NGO worker, agrees that the official recognition in the label thirunangai was important not just to educate and change people outside the transgender community, but even inside. A majority of the transgender people in her community prefer being referred to as “third gender,” she says, and being referred to as thirunangai empowered them to take pride in that. (Merelli) Another notable person from DMK who brought significant changes for the welfare of the transgenders is Mr.Tiruchi Siva. Mr.Siva is a Member of Rajya Sabha since 2014 from Tamil Nadu. He was responsible for passing the Transgender Persons Bill (a Private Member’s bill) in Rajya Sabha. The bill was passed with the objective of advocating the rights of transgenders in the country in the year 2014. The bill was the outcome of a single person’s attitude; Mr.Siva’s thought of action for the transgenders reflects the virtues that he has imbibed from the DMK party.