Members of transgender Self Help Group (SHG) Swikruti began collecting holding tax of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday. On the first day, they collected over Rs 60,000 from defaulters from Saheed Nagar.
The special squad will carry out the drive throughout a month and submit its report to the BMC on 5th of every month.
The SHG members have been provided with uniforms and identity cards by the BMC for the special drive. The corporation will bear travel cost for their daily commute. The BMC authorities have asked the transgenders to behaved well and maintain discipline while carrying out the task.
“We aim to employ members of third gender community and bring them to the mainstream. This will also ensure a boost in revenue of the civic body,” said BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary.
“We feel empowered and will give our best to collect all the pending dues. By this, we will also prove our abilities.” said Swikriti President Meghna Sahu.
Earlier last year, BMC Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Srimanta Mishra and Meghana Sahoo had signed an agreement to rope in transgenders for recovery of holding tax and trade licence fee. With this initiative, the BMC intends to collect a total pending amount of nearly Rs 11 crore from defaulters.