Breaking Barriers: 15 Trans Persons Trained as First Responders in Kolhapur

A group of 15 trans persons in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district has been trained by the Kolhapur District Disaster Management Authority in flood management, search and rescue, first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The first batch underwent a three-day training programme in May, learning practical aspects of disaster response, including operating inflatable rescue boats, rescuing people from water and administering first aid and CPR. They have since attended further practice sessions.

District Disaster Management Officer Prasad Sankpal said the initiative grew from the administration’s interaction with the transperson community during the COVID-19 pandemic, when officials supported them with rations, packed food and, in some cases, financial assistance through voluntary organisations.

Sankpal said he began considering the involvement of trans persons in disaster management in 2023. There was initially some hesitation among community members about whether they could undertake the work. He continued communicating with them and showed them examples of Aapda Mitra and Aapda Sakhi volunteers.

The training was taken up with the help of Maitri, a trans persons’ organisation led by Mayuri Alvekar.

Kolhapur is prone to floods and also witnesses large gatherings at places such as the Jyotiba and Mahalakshmi temples, besides road accidents and other emergencies. Sankpal said the volunteers would be gradually integrated into community-based disaster response activities.

The volunteers were called in during this year’s monsoon as a precautionary measure, but there was no major emergency requiring their deployment. The administration plans to provide them with greater field exposure and sustain their training.

A Kolhapur engineer recently invited members of the team to his daughter’s fifth birthday and arranged insurance policies for 10 volunteers.

Among the volunteers are a tourist guide near the Mahalakshmi temple, a postgraduate counsellor, a trained nurse and a member associated with a Pune-based organisation.

The team members are volunteers and are not paid employees of the disaster management authority.

Transperson groups from Nandurbar, Dhule, Parbhani and Thane have approached the Kolhapur team to explore similar participation in disaster response, Sankpal said.