The Lens: India’s move for transgender traffic police is a step towards inclusion

Against the backdrop of increased discrimination against transgender individuals in society, the initiative in the Indian state of Telangana to recruit them as volunteer traffic police shows an effort to combat unfairness and recognise this marginalised community.

Indian culture is known to be rather conservative and largely holds traditional values. The effectiveness of bringing about real change for transgender people should not depend solely on this initiative but also on how to create a domino effect that affects society at large.

This means shifting from discrimination to acceptance and supporting values and beliefs to form a caring and harmonious community. With a visible presence in the police force, transgender people have an opportunity to demonstrate their contribution to society.

The initiative makes only a modest effort to appease the public to accept transgender people, but increasing the visibility of transgender individuals in public roles, such as traffic management, can lead to more acceptance in society.

In addition, although more needs to be done, the move is a step forward in addressing the root challenges that transgender individuals face, such as a lack of public respect, inequality, limited access to quality education, unstable job opportunities, and insufficient social security.

As we scrutinise these intricate societal problems, we must educate the public through a comprehensive educational system and effective anti-discrimination law enforcement policies.

It is important for the Indian government to take concrete action and listen to the voices and needs of transgender individuals to build a fair and equal society.

Check out last week’s news snippet

The death of a young female executive in India, reportedly due to exhaustion, has ignited an outcry over the country’s “toxic work culture” and cast a spotlight on the pressures faced by millions in the workplace.

Anna Sebastian Perayil, a 26-year-old audit executive at Ernst & Young India, died on July 20 due to “work stress”, according to her mother, Anita Augustine, who told local media last week that her daughter barely had any personal time and would often collapse in bed due to fatigue.

EY India has denied the claims.

The case has prompted a federal investigation and sparked fury on social media under the hashtag #JusticeForAnna, with professionals sharing their experiences of long working hours. According to analysts, the problem has become pervasive in India despite laws to prevent workplace exploitation.

The controversy intensified after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman appeared to reference the incident during an event at a medical college last week, suggesting that young people needed to develop inner strength to handle pressure, which “can be achieved through divinity only”.

Opposition leaders accused Sitharaman of victim-shaming, though she later clarified that she was emphasising the importance of resilience in demanding environments.

Analysts say Perayil’s death highlights a flaw in Asia’s work culture, where intense competition leads to overwork.

A third of Hong Kong pupils will seek help for mental health issues: survey

“It has [to do] with the culture of scarcity that gets imprinted into middle-class kids, especially in Asia, at an early age. This mindset – ‘Work hard otherwise others will beat you ... you will get left behind,’ – can lead young people to lose calibration,” said Narayan Pant, professor of management practice at INSEAD.

Indian tech billionaire and industry icon Narayan Murthy provoked a heated debate last year when he suggested young people should work up to 70 hours a week to advance the country’s industrial development.

Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta said that potential employees found the private sector more appealing than working for the government but that many companies demanded their staff work long hours.

Staff writers

• Do you think that long working hours are cultural, as some parts of the text suggest? What are some things that factor into the pressure of working long hours?

• What do you think of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comment that young people need to develop inner strength to handle pressure?

• What are some practices and policies India’s government can implement in order to curb any future incidents?