Transpersons to fly Chennai Corpn’s drones

CHENNAI: Though more and more transpersons are enrolling for courses, getting a job remains a challenge. In a bid to change this, the Chennai Corporation will hire seven transpersons to operate drones that spray larvicide and control the city’s mosquito menace.

A council resolution to this effect was adopted on Tuesday. While the corporation needs seven drone operators, it has now recruited two, including a transman, E Prem (19). Officials said more transpersons will be recruited on a contract basis.

Prem, a certified operator from Vellore, finished his schooling only last year. “I decided to work instead of going to college due to financial reasons. I initially attended the training because I had free time, but now, I find it easy and enjoyable to fly drones,” he said. Prem will start work from July, and get a basic salary of Rs 25,000 for the contract period.

The initiative to recruit transgender drone operators after training them was led by KR Srikanth, retired wing commander and chief operations officer of the Remote Pilot Training Organization, Chennai. He identified 15 transpersons, trained them, and helped get them jobs.

The transgender students were picked for training with the help of NGOs working for transgender rights. For the first month, they were trained in English, which was the medium of instruction, before the actual 10-day training programme began.