Ratikanta Pradhan Ratikanta Pradhan

More than a year and a half after the Supreme Court ruled that transgenders can be a third gender, a 32-year-old Odisha government officer has come out in the public with her transgender identity.

Ratikanta Pradhan, who got into Odisha Financial Service five years ago after clearing the Odisha Aadministrative Service examination, has now decided to become Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan. Posted as Commercial Tax Officer in Paradip Port township, Aishwarya said the April 15, 2014, Supreme Court ruling recognising transgenders under the third gender category and guaranteeing their constitutional rights was the key factor.

Hailing from a village in Kandhamal district, Pradhan initially faced disapproval from family and friends including her retired Armyman father. “But now everyone have started accepting me in a new avatar,” she said.

“In an affidavit before an executive magistrate, I have become Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan. I have submitted relevant records for change and modification of my name and gender. I expect to be conferred transgender classification on government records very shortly,” she said.

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