Transwoman clears Group-I exam of TNPSC after long legal battles
Swapna was instrumental in changing rules that disallowed transgenders

Published: 05th January 2020 05:05 AM |

S Swapna | Express

By Lalitha Ranjani

Express News Service

MADURAI: Sky is the limit for 28-year-old S Swapna from Madurai, who has become the first transwoman to crack the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) exam. A transwoman who championed the cause of people like her, wrote the examination in Tamil medium and secured 228th rank. 

A graduate in Tamil literature, Swapna was not allowed to appear for the TNPSC exam in 2013 owing to her gender identity. She then staged protests and began waging legal battles. Coming as a milestone victory, the Madras High Court directed the State to allow transpersons to write the examination. 

Swapna, who insists on being identified as a woman, again knocked at the doors of the court in 2015 and a Government Order was passed allowing transpersons to appear for TNPSC examinations under the ‘Female’ category.

In the same year, Swapna fought against a GO that gave all transpersons clearing TNPSC exams the reservation given to those belonging to Most Backward Communities (MBC), irrespective of their communities. An amendment was then made to the GO granting reservation for transgenders in TNPSC examinations in accordance with the communities they belong to. Drawing inspiration from former Madurai Collector U Sagayam, whom Swapna says motivated her to become a civil servant, she continued to appear for TNPSC examinations under various groups.

In March 2018, she became India’s first non-gazetted officer under Group II post after clearing TNPSC Group II A examinations. She joined her first job as assistant in the Registration Department at Sivaganga and was later posted as assistant in the Department of Commercial Taxes at Madurai. Swapna, who had earlier appeared for TNPSC Group I examination in 2015 and 2017, cracked the examination in her third attempt, the results for which was announced on December 31.

She has scored 489.75 marks out of 850 and stands a chance to be appointed as the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) or Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes if she desires to continue in the Department of Commercial Taxes.Swapna will take a call during counselling to be held in Chennai on Monday.

“I was waiting for this moment for a long time. There are still miles to go. I fix smaller targets and work towards them. For instance, I had a resolve to open a bank account only after I secured a government job and I opened one to receive my first government salary. Likewise, I was hell-bent on honouring the greatest pillar of my strength - my mother N Pichaiyammal (54) who works as supervisor at an anganwadi in Alanganallur, by introducing her to the world after I cleared TNPSC Group I.

Today, I have done it. I had the privilege of family’s support because of my mother,” a jubilant Swapna, who aspires to become a District Collector, said. “Irrespective of gender identity, everyone is bound to be ridiculed by someone, at some point, for various reasons. Feeling downcast is not the way out. Instead, one has to focus on ways to ignite the fire within,” Swapna added.

Tamil Nadu urban local body polls to be announced soon

Representatives for rural bodies will take oath on Jan 6

Published: 05th January 2020 05:05 AM

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: State Election Commissioner R Palaniswamy on Saturday said elections for urban local bodies - municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats - will be announced soon. Giving details of the elections to Rural Local Bodies for which counting ended on Friday, the SEC said in two phases of elections held in 27 districts, 77.46 per cent votes were polled and of the 91,975 rural local body posts, candidates for 18,570 posts were elected unopposed.

Elections were postponed in three village panchayat wards following the death of candidates. Counting has been withheld for 25 posts since names of candidates were removed from supplementary electoral roll released on December 23. The counting will take place in these places after getting a report from the Chief Electoral Officer. The newly elected representatives will take oath on January 6, Palaniswamy said.

When asked about complaints regarding irregularities in the counting process, he said, “The Election Commission has ensured 100 per cent free and fair elections this time. Everyone knows the elections this time were held in a free and fair manner more than ever before.” Palaniswamy said the Commission has informed the court that video footage regarding complaints would be viewed and action taken.

18,570  candidates were elected unopposed in the recently concluded elections to Rural Local Bodies in the State

Potato 'bajji' chokes woman to death in Chennai

A piece of potato 'bajji' got stuck in the windpipe of the deceased identified as Padmavathy, while she was eating them with her mother.

Published: 03rd January 2020 08:12 PM 

Aloo Bajji (Photo | Wikimedia Commons)

By IANS

CHENNAI: A potato 'bajji' on Thursday late evening choked a 45-year old woman to death here, said city police.

A piece of potato 'bajji' got stuck in the windpipe of the deceased identified as Padmavathy, while she was eating them with her mother Saguna, and choked her to death.

The doctors declared her brought dead after she was rushed to a nearby government hospital. She is survived by her husband and mother.

Plea to lay new roads in Chitlapakkam

The roads were dug up for construction of cut-and-cover drains

05/01/2020, T. S. ATUL SWAMINATHAN

One of the streets dug up for cut-and-cover drain work in Chitlapakkam. Photo: Special arrangement

The residents of Chitlapakkam, have made a request to the Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat to relay the roads taken up for construction of cut-and-cover drains.

The cut-and-cover drains construction works were taken up in October 2018 and was completed in September 2019 at G.D. Naidu Street, Pamban Swamigal Salai, Maraimalai Adigal Street, Bharathi Street and Chokkanathan Street.

“Following the completion of construction of cut-and-cover drains, tenders were floated by the town panchayat to lay the roads in November. The due date for the tender was November 22. But, till date, the work on relaying the stretches hasn’t started,” says K. Dayanand, president, Pradeep and Karthik Avenue Residents’ Welfare Association in Chitlapakkam.

To add to the woes of the residents, the ramps in front of most houses were demolished to match the gradient of the cut-and-cover drain. As a result, the height of the houses has increased above four feet than the ramps. People are not able to bring their two and four-wheelers and park them.

The residents have put ladders and ramps as a temporary measure outside their homes.

The surface of Pamban Swamigal Street has become slushy and slippery. The arterial road in the locality divides Chitlapakkam into East and West Chitlapakkam.

171 hospitals de-listed from PM’s health scheme after fraud

Private institutions found conducting procedures reserved for govt. units
05/01/2020, BINDU SHAJAN PERAPPADAN ,NEW DELHI

The Centre’s ambitious healthcare insurance scheme — Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) — under the National Health Authority (NHA) has noted that as per details provided by the States, more than 390 hospitals of the over 19,000 empanelled across nine States have been either served show cause notices, suspended, or de-empanelled, for alleged fraud.

Of these, 171 hospitals have been de-empanelled and FIRs have been lodged against six hospitals in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand. The quantum of penalties levied on the listed hospitals is more than ₹4.6 crore.

Fake beneficiaries

“Close watch is also maintained on wrongful enrolment of beneficiaries; 3,785 Village Level Entrepreneurs (positioned at Common Service Centres) / Pradhan Mantri Arogya Mitras (positioned at PM-JAY empanelled hospitals) have been deactivated so far,” a senior NHA official said on Saturday.

The official confirmed that the National Anti-Fraud Unit (NAFU) at the NHA has detected that the frauds, committed using e-cards on the basis of algorithms, developed internally.

The cover provided under the PM-JAY health insurance scheme is ₹5 lakh per family.

Abuse-prone packages

“There are certain packages which are reserved for government hospitals by the State authorities, and these are especially abuse prone. It was detected that private hospitals were performing these government-reserved procedures and blocking/submitting the same under a different package name or as a unspecified package. There is no package under the PM-JAY scheme which is free for government hospitals,” added the official.

However, the NHA maintained that responsibility for the closure action lies with the State health agencies.

Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab were among the States where frauds were detected at different stages of implementation of the PM-JAY.

“We have issued comprehensive set of anti-fraud guidelines from the time of launch of the scheme and as a safeguard, pre-authorisation is required for most packages ... All claims require mandatory supporting documents before approval and payment ... Almost all States have dedicated anti-fraud units now” the NHA official said.

Ex-speaker Pandian dead

05/01/2020

Mr. Pandian shot into the limelight when he became the 11th Assembly Speaker in February 1985, a post he held for four years. In November 1986, when the Opposition had confronted him, Mr. Pandian told the Assembly: “Sky is the limit [for me].”

Five months later, the Assembly awarded S. Balasubramanian, then editor of the Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan, three months’ rigorous imprisonment for publishing a cartoon. For the next couple of days, it was left to Mr. Pandian to defend the House’s decision.

The row was resolved a few days later with the Speaker ordering the release of the journalist in deference to the Chief Minister’s wishes.

There were other controversies associated with Mr. Pandian’s innings. In a first, he, in December 1986, disqualified 10 MLAs of the DMK for taking part in an agitation to burn copies of the Constitution. In January 1988, when the Janaki Ramachandran ministry sought a vote of confidence in the House, Mr. Pandian, in a single day, disqualified 33 MLAs belonging to the rival faction of the AIADMK led by Jayalalithaa.

C. Ponnaiyan, who was Law and Education Minister in the 1980s, said Mr. Pandian’s actions were based on his interpretation of the Constitution to the effect that “the Assembly and the office of Speaker are independent authorities which cannot be controlled by judiciary or executive.”

When the AIADMK factions led by Janaki Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa merged in February 1989, Mr. Pandian opted out. In 1991, he contested unsuccessfully in his native place as an Independent with the DMK’s support. In August 1993, he returned to the AIADMK, after associating himself briefly with the Tamil Nadu Movement for Good Governance led by Subramanian Swamy. In 1999, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Tirunelveli and headed the AIADMK’s parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha.

After Jayalalithaa’s death, Mr. Pandian refused to accept the leadership of V. K. Sasikala and publicly raised suspicions about the circumstances leading to the former Chief Minister’s death. He aligned with O. Panneerselvam who led the AIADMK’s revolt against Sasikala in February 2017.

Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam visited the residence of the former Speaker to pay homage.

Stalin goes back to school for reunion

DMK leader takes a trip down memory lane with teachers and batchmates

05/01/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,CHENNAI

DMK president M.K. Stalin with his teachers at the Madras Christian College School in Chennai.

Friday and Saturday proved memorable for DMK president M.K. Stalin who, despite his busy schedule, visited his alma mater, the Madras Christian College School at Chetpet, to take part in a reunion.

“It is an unforgettable day. We reminisced about the classes in which we studied, the teachers who whacked us, the days when we cut classes, the stationery shops from where we bought pencils and the places where we played,” Mr. Stalin said after spending time with batchmates who had come together after 50 years.

Mr. Stalin had joined the school, where his brother M.K. Alagiri and half-brother M.K. Muthu also studied, in Class VI. Trade unionist and former Chennai Mayor R. Kuchelar had secured admission for him.

“I had visited this place even when I was the Mayor of Chennai. Now, I am the leader of the Opposition. I will tell you later about my future visits,” Mr. Stalin said.

On Friday, Mr. Stalin sat in the classrooms where he used to study. He spent time with his teachers and classmates. “The room now hosts kindergarten classes. The headmaster showed as around. Other places remain the same,” he said.

Social studies teacher

Mr. Stalin’s social studies teacher Lakshmi Narayanan, a nonagenarian who had come all the way from Salem, was seen fondly patting Mr. Stalin.

“Everyone greeted me for the DMK’s victory in the rural local body elections,” Mr. Stalin said, adding that the experience had been unforgettable.