India's First Trans-Run Dairy Farm Brings Jobs And Respect

After spending years begging on the streets, a transgender named Bhoomika has finally found a secure future as the head of India¡¯s first dairy farm run by transgenders.

The state-backed Transgenders¡¯ Milk Producers¡¯ Cooperative Society formally opened its doorways within the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu last month, offering 30 trans women a personal residence, a cow and a shared enterprise.

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"I begged on the trains for five years. Life was difficult, everyone looked at us in a strange way," Bhoomika told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

"We are still treated the same outside the dairy farm but inside I am able to lead a normal life, a life of dignity. I feel I belong," the 28-year-old said, of the farm in Manthithoppu village, about 100 km south of Madurai city.

The 1.5-acre farm, which sells 180 litres of milk a day, was the brainchild of Sandeep Nanduri, who tapped a number of state departments for housing, jobs and coaching, to make this happen.

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It¡¯s uncommon for India¡¯s estimated 2 million trans inhabitants to seek out steady houses or incomes, with many compelled to dance at weddings, become sex workers (while there is nothing wrong or undignified about these jobs, the fact that they are forced to resort to these in the absence of other opportunities and then exploited, is concerning) or even beg in the streets. This also makes it difficult for them to educate themselves, as they do not find acceptance in schools and other educational institutions.

Since India's Supreme Court gave trans people "third gender" recognition in 2014, a growing number of companies have actively hired trans people and adopted more inclusive policies, such as unisex toilets.

Trans people have also received charity and local government funding to start businesses such as take-out biryani rice joints or tattoo parlours, according to local media.

¡°They face social exclusion so we saved the farm near their residential area,¡± stated Nanduri, the executive head of Thoothukudi district.

Nanduri was spurred into motion by a well-known trans activist Grace Banu, who had been lobbying native officers for six years ¨C without success ¨C to offer housing for trans ladies within the port metropolis of Thoothukudi, the place she grew up.

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In contrast to most trans ladies in India, Banu earned an engineering diploma and now works as a cell app developer in Chennai, and is a pacesetter within the trans group.

"Housing is our biggest problem. If we rent homes, the owners treat us poorly and if we speak up, they ask us to vacate the house with no notice," said Banu.

In just over a year, Nanduri arranged loans for the women to buy cows and enlisted government agencies that taught them how to farm and built cattle sheds on the site, along with neat rows of green and turquoise one-room homes.

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"He was the first person to treat us with respect... he put in all the effort to meet our demand. That is why we named our housing colony after him. We call it Sandeep Nagar," said Banu.

The women are paid by the litre and earn about 8,000 rupees ($109) each per month, supplying milk to Tamil Nadu's biggest milk producers' union Aavin, which buys from about 170 farms in Thoothukudi.

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¡°They¡¯re doing effectively in comparison with different dairies as they work as a group ¡­ they¡¯re connected emotionally and stay collectively as a household,¡± stated Santha Kumar, a supervisor with Aavin¡¯s procurement division.

"The fat content is 4.1%, better than the average fat content of 3.9% fat that we get, which means the cattle is being fed well and the quality of milk is good."

Bhoomika is confident the farm will continue to flourish, with plans afoot to add more cows and members. When a local villager offered to buy her cow, she refused.

"This business has given us dignity," she said. "We have been trusted with this work and we don't want to break that."