'Tridhara', special toilets set up at 'Pay & Use' toilet blocks for transgender community in Kolkata

The Tridhara toilets have been installed at 'Pay & Use' toilet blocks for transgender community in Kolkata. It was Shobhan Mukherjee, the brain behind the concept, and his friends who publish vernacular monthly magazine 'Kobi Kolam', who have been approaching various agencies so that this idea can be spread across the state.

The efforts have started paying off, as people are trying to accept the existence of the third gender.

"Earlier, we would not see too many transgenders coming to use the public toilets. We would try to avoid those who came. Now, we know they have a right to use this facility and we have no right to stop them," said Radhey Shyam.

As many as four toilets next to Masterda Surya Sen Metro Station in south Kolkata now display ‘Tridhara’ stickers along with the symbol (interlocked male and female forms) for the community.

“I was writing about the community and attended various programmes. I realised they felt discriminated when it came to pay-and-use toilets. When I proposed the concept of signages to the local councillor Anita Kar Majumdar, she readily agreed. It requires minimum investment… for printing the stickers. All it takes is social responsibility,” Mukherjee. 

— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2017