When Vijaya Vasawe went to perform her duty as a forest guard in the remote Akkalkuwa taluk of Nandarbar district, she crossed a path she had dreaded in her youth. Vasave, the first person to be issued a transgender certificate by the government, has now created history by becoming the first transgender woman appointed as a forest guard by the Maharashtra forest department.
In 2023, when the state government advertised for vacancies, Vijaya was perhaps the only transwoman to apply for the post. Despite technical hurdles, Vijaya continued her fight, not hesitating to go to the High Court if necessary. “Our recruitment was under the tribal category and happened only after the tribal legislators started agitating,” she said.
Government recruitment was not new to him, but the current recruitment involved both physical and written tests. “Deepstambha Foundation in Jalgaon took care of me like a daughter, which was necessary when I was going through stress. But the forest department singled out two senior officers who helped me — this treatment was given to me for the first time,” she said.
Vijaya Vasave with other women forest guards. (file image)
Born in a tribal family like Vijaya, life was anything but easy for Vijaya. His schooling was done in 2015 Ashramshalas (residential tribal schools) where she was the butt of jokes because of her dominant nature. While talking to The Indian Express, Vijaya spoke about the physical and mental abuse he suffered from teachers and his fellow students. The abuse she suffered during that time provoked suicidal tendencies in her, as she remembers sleeping with a bottle of floor cleaner by her side during those nights.
Life took a different turn for Vijaya, when she was a college student in Nashik and attended a lecture by Vidumadhav Khire, a Pune-based LGBTQ activist. “Before the lecture I was under the impression that I was wrong,” she said.
In 2019, Vijaya completed her graduation and enrolled in Pune-based Karve Institute of Social Science for her MSW (Masters in Social Work). He then began a long process of transition that included surgical and hormonal therapy. “I come from a tribal farming family, and the ambivalence within me was not obvious to anyone. But from childhood I felt that I was a woman, so after my transition was complete, I was able to be at peace with myself,” she said.
After his transition, Vijaya worked in a contract position at the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) while preparing for government exams.
In the absence of horizontal reservation, trans women like Vijaya have to compete in the women’s category, which sometimes poses a challenge Due to the shock of infection and change, their body has changed. Same was the case for Vijaya but due to her perseverance she managed to clear both the written and physical exams. After that he was posted in Akkalkuwa taluk of Nandurbar. “I spent my entire adult life in a cosmopolitan city like Pune, so coming back home is like a different life,” she said.
Vijaya and his remarkable story are now common knowledge in Nandurbar. “Frankly speaking, the people of Nandurbar had never seen the transition of a biological male becoming a female. So when I go to do my duty, people look,” she said. Vijaya said other people in the district have contacted her through her social media account. “I try to help them as much as I can. In this remote part of the state, where time often stands still, any information is always welcome,” she said.
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