Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will soon launch state’s first-of-its-kind shelter home for transgender beggars in the Capital city, in a bid to rehabilitate and further empower the third gender.
Issuing a tender, the BMC stated that it is looking for parties that will look after the management of the 50-bed capacity shelter home here. The shelter home, which would come up at an estimated cost of Rs 40.83 lakh, is likely to come up in southwest zone of the BMC by next year.
“This is for the first time that an urban local body (ULB) in the state is coming up with such an initiative. The shelter home with 50-bed capacity will be set up to rehabilitate the transgenders seeking alms in the City. The centre will provide nutritious food four times a day. Apart from basic amenities, the shelter will have a 500 sqft hall area for activities and skill training of the inmates,” said BMC’s deputy commissioner, Welfare, Kamalakanta Behera.
Sources at the BMC said that the civic authority on selection of the agency for management of the shelter home will also make payments to the agency at Rs 3,403 per beggar per month for two years. Moreover, the agency will also conduct regular health checkups of the inmates and may also be required to provide facilities for Covid testing, if necessary.
It can be mentioned here that the initiative is being taken to make Bhubaneswar the first beggar-free Capital city in the country.
While the BMC already has eight shelter for urban homeless (SUHs), three SUHs have been dedicated exclusively to rehabilitation of elderly, women and children and differently-abled. While other SUHs for beggars have seen about 100 inmates earning incomes through small trades, the proposed SUH is set to rehabilitate the trangenders.
“Usually most transgenders involved in begging are physically more capable than women, children, elderly and others. We aim to rehabilitate them by imparting skill training and setting up small businesses for them so that they do not get involve in begging again,” Behera added.