Tamil Nadu's Kovilpatti boasts of India’s first cooperative society run by transwomen

A year ago, a group of transwomen met the Thoothukudi district collector seeking houses for them to lead a “dignified life”. Today, besides a roof over their heads, the 30 members have a brand new village all to themselves, complete with a cooperative society.

Collector Sandeep Nanduri knew that houses alone were not enough for the trans community, which is often looked down on. They should be financially independent too. It spawned an idea in his mind which resulted in the birth of Manthithoppu Transgenders Milk Cooperative Society, the first such in the country run by the trans community.

‘Sandeep Nagar’, the new village, is just 3 km away from Kovilpatti, famed for its kadalai mittai (peanut candy). The place now boasts the cooperative society as well as individual houses for the 30 transwomen built under the chief minister's solar-powered greenhouses scheme.

The residents of Sandeep Nagar now own a cow each and they sell around 250 to 300 litres of milk every day to Aavin, the government-owned cooperative milk society that sells packaged milk and other milk-based products in Tamil Nadu.

The 30 members have been granted a loan of Rs 1 lakh each for buying two cows – the second one will reach them in about six months after which the quantity of milk they sell to Aavin will double. The revenue that comes from selling the milk is split between the members who use the money to pay back the loans availed to buy the cows and for their regular expenses.

“Our happiness has no bounds. We are extremely happy that, for the first time in our lives, we feel equal. People cannot make fun of us anymore. The cooperative society is also a standing example that opportunities bring the best out of people. We got an opportunity and we proved we can succeed,” R Bhoomika, President of the Cooperative Society, told DH.

While the society is functioning for the past two months, the houses were formally handed over to the beneficiaries last week. The district administration spent a total of Rs 1.70 crore in building 30 houses under the CM scheme and toilets for the houses and sheds for cows under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.

Nanduri told DH that it was the efforts put in by five to six government departments that resulted in the empowerment of the trans community in the district.

“Their first demand was a house. That is when I thought about what they will do with just houses and decided to do something for their livelihood. And when we proposed dairy farming as one of the options, they agreed readily, and we gave them training. It is an integrated housing and livelihood project,” the district collector explained.

He added that the beneficiaries were then imparted training on the handling of cows after which the society came into existence. “It is an integrated colony. They live there and do business from the same place. The entrepreneurship displayed by these transwomen will inspire many from the community,” Nanduri said.

Trans activist Grace Banu, who is one of the prime movers behind the project, said they were happy that the community members were allotted land just outside Kovilpatti town.

“The district collector has been so helpful and that is the reason we were quite adamant that the village should be named after him. We are happy that members of the trans community will lead a dignified life and we thank the government for understanding the need to empower us,” she told DH.

And starting a society was not that easy. Bhoomika said many tried to put them down saying they will not be easy to maintain cows.

“But we know we will be able to learn after proper training. Now we handle the cows on our own and we milk the cows without any help. We have a house of our own and a business for ourselves. What else do we need. We hope to live a content life hereon,” she said.