Meet Akkai Padmashali, the first transgender to be honoured with the Kannada Rajyotsava Award, the second highest civilian honour of Karnataka. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah felicitated Padmashali with the Award along with 59 others from different fields at the Ravindra Kalakshetra on Sunday, November 1.

Padmashali is the co-founder of Ondede, an organisation that encourages dialogue, research and action to uplift the sexual minorities.

In a brief interview with iamin, Padmashali talks about the situation of such minorities in Karnataka.

What does the Kannada Rajyotsava Award mean to you?I consider it a great honour for sexual minorities in the state. I am very happy that the government has taken the step of felicitating a transgender with such an honour.

Do you think the award has increased your responsibility?It has increased my responsibilities towards my community. It urges me to dedicate more time and efforts to ensure that sexual minorities, especially transgenders, get into the mainstream of society. It reminds me once again that there is a lot that I have to do for the betterment of my community.

What do you think of the state government’s welfare schemes for the marginalised sections?I am happy with the state government’s proactive attitude towards sexual minorities. It has announced a number of welfare schemes for them. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had spoken about it while presenting the budget in the State Assembly. However, what I want is the implementation of these schemes as early as possible.

The Tamil Nadu government too had implemented some welfare schemes for sexual minorities. What do you think of them?Karnataka’s policy towards sexual minorities is by far the best one I feel. What is the use of just establishing a welfare board for transgenders without providing funds for implementing the schemes? The Karnataka government has taken some useful measures for the welfare of this minority group. I want it do more though.

A few years ago, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had announced a skill development programme for transgenders. What is the status of that programme?It wasn't of much help to the transgenders. The programme was stopped as soon as it was announced. Not many were aware of that programme.

Would you recommend the state government to provide D category jobs for transgenders?Why only D category jobs for transgenders? I want the state government to provide job opportunities for transgenders based on their educational qualification. Some transgenders are eligible for other category jobs too. I am now one of the members of the committee formed to chalk out welfare schemes and survey of sexual minorities in the state. I want the state government to reserve seats for admission of sexual minorities at Pre-University Certificate (PUC) colleges since a majority of the sexual minorities fail to pursue education after high school due to various reasons. I think at the time of joining PUC colleges, most of the sexual minorities realise their orientation and discontinue education for the fear of stigma. The Bangalore University has reserved one per cent seats for transgenders to pursue graduation and post-graduate courses but the initiative failed to attract the minority.

The happiest moment of your life?I was a sex worker at one point in life and used to struggle for livelihood. I was among the most neglected people in the society then. And today, here I am - sharing the dais with various dignitaries, receiving the Kannada Rajyotsava Award from the Chief Minister. This has to be the happiest moment of my life.

And the sad one?When I was raped by a person at Indira nagar in Bangalore. I was 16-years-old at the time, now I don't want to even recall the name of the culprit.

For the longer version of the interview, click here