Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan (formerly Ratikanta Pradhan) (born 12 November 1983) is India's first openly

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, working in the

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

Financial Services (OFS) as a commercial tax officer. Pradhan successfully joined the OFS in 2010 as Ratikanta Pradhan. She legally changed her gender identity in 2015, after the Indian Supreme Court's 2014 ruling, recognising the transgender community as the

third gender Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...

Childhood and education

Pradhan was born in Katibageri village in

Kandhmal Kandhamal district is a district in the state of Odisha, India. The district headquarters of the district is Phulbani. Kandhamal is famous for its local turmeric renowned as 'Kandhamal Haldi' which has earned the Geographical indication (GI) tag ...

district of Odisha; her father was a retired government officer, Balila Pradhan. According to Pradhan, she realised her gender identity was female, not male, when she was in class six. Pradhan has said that she was ridiculed throughout school, sexually abused in college, and her abilities questioned when she joined the civil services. However, since she has proven herself and established her trans identity, she says, "now things have become relatively easier". Pradhan is an alumnus of the

Indian Institute of Mass Communication Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) is an Indian media centre of learning and civil service training institute for the Indian Information Service Cadre funded and promoted by the Government of India in New Delhi. The IIMC is an auto ...

. She also has a

post graduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...

degree in

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pradhan, Aishwarya Rutuparna 1983 births Indian civil servants Indian Institute of Mass Communication alumni Indian LGBT people Living people People from Kandhamal district Transgender women 21st-century LGBT people