In a novel gesture, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) has named one of its stations as “Pride Station” and dedicated the station to the transgender community, news agency PTI reported. Earlier known as “sector 50” metro station, the station will now be known as the Pride station.
On the occasion of the unveiling of the new name of the station, six members from the transgender community who have been recruited by the NMRC were also present along with Gautam Buddh Nagar Member of Parliament Mahesh Sharma, Noida MLA Pankaj Singh and other NMRC officials. While four members from the community have been recruited in the ticker vending team, two other members have been recruited in the housekeeping staff.
The NMRC on the occasion said that the initiative to dedicate the station to the transgender community was the first of its kind by any Metro network in Nothern India. The NMRC also said that the decision to name the station was inspired from the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 which was passed by the central government last year.
The NMRC had earlier thought of renaming the station as “Rainbow” but thought better of it. The name, as per the NMRC, was zeroed in after suggestions were sought from the general public and various Non Governmental Organisations working for the upliftment of the community.
The suggestions were sought on the official website of the NMRC and the highest number of people selected Pride as the new name of the metro station.
In addition to providing employment to the members of the community, the station will also have all necessary amenities and facilities for the community members. In a similar decision in the year 2017, the Kochi Metro Rail had employed 23 members of the community at one of its stations.
