Encouraging initiatives to ensure gender justice, neutrality in institutions: Kerala government

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government on Thursday said it was taking steps to encourage initiatives and projects to ensure gender justice and gender neutrality in educational institutions and campuses in the state. State Higher Education Minister R Bindu said, in the Kerala Assembly, that directions have been issued to establish gender justice clubs in institutions and campuses and guidelines for the same have been formulated.

Besides that, directions have also been given to strengthen gender justice forums and women cells on all campuses, she said, in response to a query on what steps the government has taken to ensure gender neutrality in educational institutions. Additionally, facilities are being created in educational institutions and campuses for transgenders and where uniforms are worn by students, steps are being taken to make the uniforms gender neutral, the minister said. "An environment of gender neutrality and similar imagination is being created for female and transgender students in educational institutions and campuses," she said.

Bindu also referred to the gender neutral toilets at the well-known Government Maharaja's College in Ernakulam district and said that it has become a topic of a raging debate in Kerala. The debate was kicked off following a recent Facebook post by writer-columnist Ram Mohan Paliyath about his experience using the gender-friendly toilet during his visit to the college's campus. While a majority of the people who commented on his post, hailed the gender-friendly initiative of the college authorities as a progressive move, there was also a section of people who indulged in trolling and posting sarcastic remarks against the college and its students.