Third gender discrimination still prevails in the Delhi University; no third gender students in DU’s regular classes since 2015

Delhi University: On Thursday, Delhi University wrapped up the registration process for admission in undergraduate courses on Thursday but its recently established ‘Third Gender Resource Centre’ is still struggling to attract aspirants. The main aim of this centre was to give third gender aspirants a stage to distribute information on higher education. Although, the centre was established earlier in the month of April.

Earlier in the month of May, The Department of Adult, Continuing Education and Extension also decided to organize one-to-one counseling sessions for third gender students in the department building which was thought to be a revolutionary step but it seems like it doesn’t help anybody that much.

The professor at the department, Dr. Rajesh Kumar said that “We are receiving calls from third-gender students with admission-related issues. We ask them to visit us at the centre. But, unfortunately, no one has turned up as of now. They are very hesitant to visit the university”

Image Courtesy: IndiaTV

This year 101 students have applied in the third gender category. However, it is observed that no student under this category have joined regular college across the university since the category was added in admission forms in 2015. They mostly prefer DU’s school of open learning. Professor Dr. Rajesh Kumar also emphasized that “We are trying hard to motivate them to join regular classes. Let’s see if things work out.”

The kind of queries resource centre is getting from the candidates are different. Dr. Rajesh even mentioned that “Beside admission-related questions, most of them are curious to know about the inclusiveness of the campus towards them. Some transgender students also wanted to know if they can take admission in girls colleges as they will be more comfortable there. However, it won’t be possible as per the norms.”

A final year transgender student at SOL remarked that “The university colleges don’t even have separate toilets for us. That’s the basic facility one can provide.” The statement itself shows that lack of inclusiveness is one of the major reasons for not opting for regular education. As a society, India needs to think of it and break the stereotypes.

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