07th March, 2022

Author: Preeti Sharma (Content Writer)

Vidya Rajput, a beautiful name with many accolades due to her rigorous efforts in making her community worth to live. Vidya is a Transgender, but has fought her life and today she is playing a significant role in taking the transgender community to a different level. It is her hard work and efforts that many of her community members are living a very decent and respectful life. Vidya Rajput is a Social Activist working from a long time for the rights and reservation of Transgender in Chhattisgarh and believes that there should be no discrimination towards them. She is born on 1st May 1977, in Born in Farasgaon, Kondagaon district of Chhattisgarh.

Although she was born from the womb of a mother, she really can not feel herself in the world. Vidya grew aware about her own being and began to live the existence that she experienced in her body. She was born as a boy named Vikas Rajput. She told to The HULAHUL Times that being born as a stigma in transgender community, she believes that this is her primary responsibility to remove the discrimination and work for the welfare and upliftment of her community. She approached the local officials to raise awareness and there she got an opportunity to participate in a program of NACO in Delhi. Under this program she worked for spreading awareness of HIV testing and its treatment. During this time, Vidya realize the need of creating a community for transgender with a major focus on to build the network and provides them healthy and positive environment for a sustainable life as the transgender people were hesitant about their identity and facing challenges and unable to earn a respectful life. The community started in Chhattisgarh as Mitwa Samiti in 2009. In the early times, the transgender were mostly involved in singing and dancing at wedding ceremonies or childbirth as a part of their traditional greeting culture, or engaged in some begging and prostitution for their livelihood; but Vidya wanted to change his perspective.

Vidya then began working for the third gender welfare board of transgender people in Chhattisgarh, and following her efforts, the state government decided to establish the Third Gender Social Welfare Board in 2015. Vidya is currently a member of this board and works on transgender issues and along with this she is also a member of South Asia Transgender Network Committee.

Vidya was obliged to bear the things at the start of her life. She started feeling her identity of a girl when she was ten years old, despite being born as a boy. She informed her family about the changes and development, but nobody really backed her up, and rather than supporting her, she suffered a barrage of insults. She tried to commit suicide to end her life, but there's something in her heart kept her from doing so. After a while, she decided to alter her identity to that of a female, as she had always felt on the inside. Vidya, on the other hand, completed her studies in Social Work while working. To support the rights of transgender people and after years of efforts, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment passed a law for bisexual people in 2016 and after that there were so many task been done in favor of transgender community. Vidya believes that all of her hard work is now paying off her years of prejudice. This law helped in connecting the community to the mainstream. After several conferences with various officials, the welfare of the Third Gender group in Chhattisgarh was ultimately formed on October 8, 2014. This welfare organization strives to educate and empower the transgender community, as well as connect them with other government programmes.

Vidya is presently working as a trainer for the administrative and police academy in Raipur, and she has actively collaborated with the Chhattisgarh police department to provide employment prospects for transgender individuals. She worked with the Indian Sports Ministry to integrate transgender youth in the renowned Khelo India Games in 2012. Vidya, along with government officials in Chhattisgarh, provided 190 flats to Trans individuals at risk of social isolation in Raipur as part of her social initiative. She had recently convinced administrators to incorporate sections on the LGBT community in textbooks.

Transgender discrimination is a global issue, and many transgender activists like Vidya are battling hard for their communities for their extension and she believes that more people should learn about the Trans population. She is aware that people are hesitant to accept them because they don't know much about the transgender although they have same right as others to live and treat us as their own.

Vidya Rajput is a much known name not only in transgender community but as an individual. She has always believe in putting efforts and making it possible and it is her all the accomplishments that now transgender are getting all the amenities from government .In COVID crises , she along with the community members of Mitwa member, worked for migrants and for people who are unable to feed themselves.

Some documentaries, such as Aaina-A Life of a Transgender, The Shining Star-Mitwa, have been made and have been shown at various film festivals. We want everyone to love and support us, she stated. Despite the fact that there is a sense of consciousness among the people, society still does not know much about us. Vidya has been awarded by many awards on State and National Level for her tremendous work.