https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Empowering the Transgender Community Through Assam’s First ‘Trans Tea Stall’

Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup in Assam, Kailash Karthik N has helped the members of All Assam Transgender Association in opening Assam’s first-ever Trans Tea Stall. The tea stall has been opened on the premises of the DC office. It has received a good response so far and the officer is planning to upscale it.
Indian Masterminds Stories

Even though transgenders are yet to receive the respect and status that they deserve, one positive sign is, that society is slowly embracing the community and the government is also coming up with various new ways to assimilate them into the mainstream.

Following the same path, the district administration of Kamrup in Assam has helped set up the first-ever ‘Trans Tea Stall’ in the premises of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner. In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Deputy Commissioner Kamrup, Kailash Karthik N, shared details about the same.

TRANS TEA STALL

Opened under the aegis of the All Assam Transgender Association (AATA) and with the support of the Kamrup district administration, the Trans tea stall is an initiative to look for a sustainable source of income for the Transgender community alongside helping them in gaining entrepreneurial skills.

“AATA contacted us with a request for some space in our office to open the stall and receive an opportunity to get into the mainstream. The community faces a lot of discrimination and inhumane treatment and we wanted to break that barrier. Therefore, when they reached out to us, we felt this would be the ideal way to give them a head start into the mainstream,” Mr. Karthik said.

TAKING THE FIRST STEP

Trans Tea Stall has acquired space in the Deputy Commissioner’s office premises and has already started operating. As of now, four trans people are managing and working in the tea stall – two in charge of running the stall on a rotational basis along with two helpers.

“This is a pilot initiative and based on the response that we will receive from here from an acceptance point of view as well as from an economical POV, we will observe if it is viable to run the stall in other places, too. Based on that, we are planning to upscale the initiative in other government institutions across the district that see a lot of footfalls. Hence, we wish to decentralize it in other locations as well,” Mr. Karthik said.

PUBLIC’S REACTION

The Trans Tea Stall has received a warm and welcoming response from the public. People took the initiative in a very positive manner breaking the age-old social taboos in their minds, to a large extent.

“There are several existing tea stalls in the DC office premises but the Trans Tea Stall is already giving them good competition, even though they have just opened a week before. The public is coming to them and praising their work continuously,” said Mr. Karthik.

DC Kailash Karthik inaugurating the tea stall

The officer has provided them with the right space for people to notice them the moment they walk into the DC office, which has also helped the members positively to make their presence felt.

Mr. Karthik also makes a special mention and gives major credit to Swati Bidhan Baruah, the nodal person behind AATA, who drove the initiative and reached out to the DC. Not only that, but she is also the first transgender judge in the state of Assam. She is hopeful that if all goes well, then the tea stall will expand in the days to come and start selling more items than just tea, coffee, and packed goods.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Indian Police Services IPS Officer
Champaran to Get 6 SPs: Bihar Govt Approves New IPS Posts to Ease Police Workload - Details Inside
IAS IPS
Marriage Brings Top Bureaucrats to Rajasthan: 6 IAS-IPS Officers, Including 4 Women, Shift Cadres in 5 Months - Full Details Inside
IFS Dhananjay Mohan
Uttarakhand’s Top Forest Officer IFS Dhananjay Mohan Takes Sudden VRS Amid Sapling Procurement Row; Samir Sinha Gets Addl Charg
IFS Kshitij Saxena
Who Is IFS Kshitij Saxena, Appointed as the New DFO (Territorial) of Gangtok, Sikkim?
CM Vishnu Deo Sai - resized
Chhattisgarh: CM Vishnu Deo Sai Launches Chief Minister Bus Service Scheme; Push for Connectivity and Development in Bastar and Surguja
CM Pushkar Dhami-resized
Uttarakhand: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami Unveils First Yoga Policy; Bhararisain to Emerge as Global Yoga Capital
IPS Laxmi Singh
UP: IPS Laxmi Singh, Commissioner of Gautam Budh Nagar Police, Cracks Down on Laxity, Suspends Officers over Crime Control Failures
Uttar Pradesh UP Government
Uttar Pradesh to Relocate Forest Dwellers to Curb Human-Wildlife Conflict, Rs. 22 Crore Compensation Package Drafted - All Details Inside
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Inderjit Singh Interview Plane Crash
What ill-fated pilots of AI171 may have gone through in those 40 seconds before the crash? Intro:
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi’s 27-Year Odyssey with Indian Railways | Exclusive Interview
Monika Singh
The Civil Servant Who Finds Peace in Poetry
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Raju Wagh
When the Battlefield Became a Study Room and a Dream Took Flight
Amid IED blasts and anti-Maoist operations in Bastar, CRPF Commando Raju Wagh taught village kids, studied...
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-18 at 10.31
"I Just Wanted to Breathe Again": The Man Who Fought Death and Made It to UPSC
Struck by COVID at the peak of his UPSC prep, Devanand Telgote spent months on ECMO, unsure he'd live,...
Ravinder Nandal IDES
IDES Ravinder Nandal's Story of Self-Made Success
Balancing fatherhood, full-time jobs, and six UPSC attempts, Ravinder Nandal’s story is one of perseverance,...
Social Media
Tigress Arrowhead
The End of an Era: A Queen Falls - Ranthambore’s Iconic Tigress Arrowhead (T-84) Passes Away at 14, Hours After Daughter’s Relocation
Ranthambore mourns the loss of one of its fiercest and most beloved tigers, Arrowhead, the granddaughter...
Screenshot 2025-06-13 194001
Wild Elephant Disrupts Riverside Picnic, Sparks Debate on Human Encroachment; IFS Parveen Kumar Shares the Video - Watch Here!
Mr. Kaswan used the viral video, which has garnered over 1.5 lakh views, to highlight the risks of human...
Tiger jump Sundarban
Stunning Viral Video Shows Royal Bengal Tiger Making Spectacular 30-Foot Leap Across River in Sunderbans - See It Here
Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda shared the clip online, which quickly went...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Vishwajit Singh
From Bureaucrat to Ironman: Vishwajit Singh Sheoran, Haryana’s First HCS Officer to Complete the Ironman, Redefines Greatness
Indian Police Services IPS Officer
Champaran to Get 6 SPs: Bihar Govt Approves New IPS Posts to Ease Police Workload - Details Inside
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Inderjit Singh Interview Plane Crash
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi
Monika Singh
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT