KOLKATA: India will get its first transgender college principal when Manabi Bandopadhyay takes charge of Krishnagar Women’s College in West Bengal on June 9. Manabi is currently associate professor in Bengali at Vivekananda Satobarshiki Mahavidyalaya.

“This decision was taken by the College Service Commission. I don’t interfere in their decisions. They are aware of our open mind. I am happy with this decision,” state education minister Partha Chatterjee said on Tuesday.

Technical education minister Ujjal Biswas, who is chairman of the college governing body, said: “We were in need of a principal with a strong personality to run the college smoothly.”

Welcoming the decision, Rattan Lal Hangloo, vice-chancellor of the Kalyani University to which Krishnagar Women’s College is affiliated, said, “Manabi is a fine human being, a good academician and an able administrator. We are hopeful her appointment will empower other members of the transgender community.”

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