Assam has become the first Indian state to add “transgender” as an identity category for people seeking civil service jobs, allowing 42 trans candidates to apply to sit an entry exam, an official and a campaigner said on Friday.

The application form for the exam, which recruits for state roles such as administrative officials, magistrates, and police officers, now lets applicants tick male, female or transgender, a move welcomed by local trans rights advocates.

“Forty-two (applicants) is not a small number… It is a historic decision. Assam has become the first state in India to have included us,” said Swati Bidhan Baruah of the Assam Transgender Welfare Board, which sought the change.

Calling the decision a “big victory”, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation her group had also urged Assam’s state government to reserve a quota of civil service jobs for trans candidates.

“We are confident our demand will be met soon,” she said.

Pallab Bhattacharya, chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission, which conducts the test, said about 76,000 candidates had applied to sit this year’s examination, which will be held in December.

In April, India’s federal government instructed all ministries and departments to modify forms for recruitment tests to include “transgender” as a separate category to conform with a trans rights law passed last year.

The law set out to improve the lives of about two million trans-Indians, who face discrimination in the largely conservative nation and mostly survive through begging, performing at weddings, or selling sex.

Still, campaigners have expressed concern about the limits on self-determining their gender, with the law stating they must obtain an identity certificate from a district magistrate to be declared transgender.

They also have to give proof of having undergone sex reassignment surgery if they then want to be listed as male or female.

India’s Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that trans people had equal rights but they are still often rejected by their families and denied jobs, education and healthcare.

Assam, which lies in northeast India, has a trans population of about 11,500, according to the last census of 2011.

One trans woman who filled out the state application form said sitting the entry examination could change her life, adding that she hoped to join the local police force.

“It’s a matter of pride and self respect to have a category where we can boldly mention ourselves as transgender,” the 24-year-old said, asking not to give her name.

“I want to change the system and do away with discrimination faced by the transgender community.”

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The Rajasthan state government has ordered that red ribbon clubs (RRCs) be opened in all 10 government colleges and five private colleges of Bhilwara to create awareness about HIV/AIDS, officials said.

RRCs are set up in colleges, both government and private, to make the youth aware about HIV/AIDS through a host of activities, such as debates, discussions and rallies. There are 12,000 RRCs in India, and 600 in Rajasthan across all 33 districts. Seven of them are in Bhilwara, all in private colleges. Bhilwara is a high-priority district in terms of creating awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Rajasthan State AIDS Control Society (RSACS) joint director Dr Pradeep Chaudhary said Bhilwara has high migrant population because it has textile, dyeing and printing industries. Workers from here also migrate out to Mumbai and Gujarat. “Bhilwara, therefore, is a high-priority district,” he added.

Out of 43,425 people living with AIDS in Rajasthan, 2,357 are in Bhilwara, shows RSACS data.

RSACS wrote to the college education department on September 5 for opening new RRCs in Bhilwara colleges. The letter said that it is important to check the rising rate of HIV/AIDS in the district and to protect and keep the youth away from the infections. “As per the HIV infection rate received from the district it has come to notice that the infection is increasing in the district,” said the letter.

“Under the new action plan of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) for 2019-20, the state government has approved red ribbon clubs in 15 colleges of Bhilwara district,” the letter added.

The officials said that since the district has a high in and out migrant population, as per the NACO guidelines, it is important to take preventive measures in the state especially among the youth.

Dr Chaudhary said it has come to notice that the migrants may develop high-risk behaviours which include unprotected intercourse with multiple partners.

“Also the people who inject illegal drugs may be at a high risk. Therefore, as per the NACO guidelines, there needs to be preventive measures in place to check spread of HIV/AIDS infections. Therefore, to keep the youth of Bhilwara away from such infections, we asked the college education department to establish RRCs in government colleges,” he said.

Commissioner of college education department Pradeep Kumar Borad sent a circular to Bhilwara government colleges on Thursday for setting up RRCs at the earliest. “Each college will appoint a nodal officer to run the club,” said Borad.

RSACS officials said that another programme, ‘Migrant Health Campaign’, will run in eight high-risk districts – Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Jalore, Pali, Rajsamand and Sirohi.

Officials said the programme will begin on October 14 to create awareness among the migrants in these districts.

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NEW ULM — A report released by the Minnesota Department of Health Thursday shows that Minnesotans may be getting bigger around the waist.

According to the report, Minnesota’s adult obesity rate rose from 28.4% in 2017 to 30.1% in 2018, which means more Minnesotans may be at increased risk for heart disease, diabetes, some types of cancer and other serious health conditions.

According to data also released Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Minnesota’s adult obesity rate is slightly lower than the national figure, but the adult obesity rate continues to rise nationwide. Data shows that the national rate rose from 30.1% in 2017 to 30.9% in 2018, and in addition to being a significant health concern, obesity is also a significant driver of health care costs. In Minnesota alone, 2017 health care costs related to obesity were estimated to be $3.2 billion.

“Obesity is more than just a health concern for individual Minnesotans — it’s a major challenge for the entire state,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm in the report. “Addressing this challenge requires an individual and community-level response, including smart changes to our food and physical environments.”

In Brown County, adult obesity rates trend a bit higher than the state average with about 32% of adults in the county considered overweight or obese — according to data in the County Rankings and Roadmaps report released in March.

The County Rankings and Roadmaps report also shows that about 21% of adults in Brown County reported not getting enough exercise or physical activities.

But state’s efforts such as the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) and local initiatives like the Heart of New Ulm (HONU) are working to improve or create healthy communities that have increased access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity in neighborhoods, schools, worksites and health care settings.

Melissa Hoffmann, a family health nurse at SHIP and Brown County Public Health, said the data released by the state health department isn’t immediately alarming to health officials, but they’d still prefer to see a drop in the obesity rate.

“The increases aren’t what we want to see,” Hoffmann said. “This latest report does show an increase, but it’s not really significant.”

SHIP in Brown County partners with the HONU action team, and through the partnership has formed a worksite collaborative team that operates as a facilitator of information and resources for workplaces.

With more time spent on computers and mobile devices in the workplace, the focus of the team is to help foster a healthy work environment for employees by working with employers to offer healthier options in vending machines and even healthier catering options, Hoffmann said.

Efforts are also directed at local restaurants to provide resources so restaurants can take advantage of technical assistance through SHIP and let the community know healthy food options are available on the menu.

SHIP also provides assistance to community groups such as the New Ulm Community Garden. It has helped the garden by providing a garden shed and will soon be holding a bike fix program.

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