Lack of horizontal reservation: Job eludes trans doctor

CHENNAI: While the Tamil Nadu government has launched its State Policy for Transgender People to promote welfare and inclusion, the lived reality of Dr Gargi Dhananjayan, a 25-year-old trans graduate who received her certificates the Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital after a prolonged court battle, tells a different story.

She had moved the Madras High Court, as the college in which she graduated from in 2025, had refused to hand-over her certificates, including her degree certificates, citing pending dues. Without them, she couldn’t apply for a medical license, despite being eligible, as the college had held them back.

The Madras High Court, on September 8, ordered a complete waiver of college fees and the release of Dr Gargi’s certificates within a week of the order issued. The court also directed the university to establish a redressal platform accessible to transgender persons at the institutional level as per the rules under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, while closing the writ petition. The college is affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University.

“This makes me the only trans person to have completed MBBS in Tamil Nadu with the help of the government scholarship,” said Dr Gargi, whose legal name is Vignesh. She belongs to a sub-community within the trans community called the kothi community (transgender non-binary or genderqueer). 

After coming out as trans in 2023, Dr Gargi had to fight to get her trans ID card, which is equivalent to an Aadhaar card. She had to approach the Social Welfare & Women Empowerment Department multiple times before finally receiving her Union government-issued transgender ID card.

While she had a State-issued card, there was confusion over the validity of the documents within the State, and also nationwide. Dr Gargi flagged the opaque system that forced students to make repeated visits even for basic services.

Further, her scholarship process was equally tedious, as it required multiple follow-ups before the college acknowledged the receipt of her fees. “In a way, my representations to the departments for my ID card helped as they utilised that information for my scholarship. However, the college had a hard time acknowledging it,” she shares.

While Dr Gargi claimed to have paid the original college fees through scholarships and personal funds, the college had withheld her certificates, including her internship completion certificate and original documents, citing unpaid dues. Though she was a Telugu minority student, she was awarded a Tamil Nadu government scholarship that helped her clear part of the dues. The remaining was personally funded.

“I was the only medical candidate to be given the higher education scholarship and a higher amount at that. While initially the college delayed my scholarship, they added extra dues,” she rued.

The college had demanded Rs 4.75 lakh for hostel fees, which were not part of the traditional fee structure and were levied only after the final year (meant for internships). After repeated clarifications, the college said the dues were for hostels.

“The fee is unfair as it was never declared at admission. The college has not provided any written communication of its demands unless pressed,” Dr Gargi added.

Earlier, she had been placed in a shared men’s hostel room, and told to wait for a gender-neutral space. “Since 2023, it has been a struggle to constantly fight the management for accommodation. I had to wait my turn to have my space and use the washrooms, which took a toll on me,” she recalled. When the college management ignored her request, Dr Gargi turned to the district collector, writing multiple petitions, before finally getting a gender-neutral room, and that too only during her final months, specifically, her internship time.

She then took the institution to court, which sought responses from the college and others by August 7; however, they did not respond. A hearing was scheduled on August 28, where the HC directed the respondents to file a counter by September 1 (Monday).

Gargi is also among the few students to receive a proper stipend, secured after repeated representations to various offices.

Redressal platforms, although in place, are only functional on paper. “Although there exists an ICC which has regular meetings, we’re not told what’s discussed in these meetings. Neither are we told how we’re supposed to approach them if necessary,” she lamented. “I’ve been working towards forming a club where we come together to share our experiences. We have to constantly share spaces and navigate around the same people who demand favours from us.”

The college’s location in Perambalur, on the outskirts, makes access to the city difficult, leaving students feeling trapped on campus. Gargi feels this also worsened her mental health. “A nodal officer must be appointed under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, for grievance redressal,” she opined.

A lack of institutional support and the constant work pressure as an intern pushed Gargi’s limits, and she attempted suicide in January this year. “Apart from dealing with the anxiety of being a transgender person, all these institutional hurdles became an extra burden,” she shared.

While the State has been pushing for a transgender policy, Gargi insisted on horizontal reservation, as unlike vertical reservation, it accounts for overlapping identities such as gender and caste.

Though Dr Gargi is qualified for the NEET PG exam, and she cannot avail a seat of her choice due to a lack of horizontal reservations for trans persons in higher education. “The State government must either provide horizontal reservation so that I can pursue a PG degree course in TN or fund my education through a scholarship,” she stated. “Without horizontal reservations, I’m not sure how they can represent trans persons in higher educational institutions, government, and non-governmental institutions.”