Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launched a ‘National Portal for Transgender Persons’ and e-inaugurated a ‘Garima Greh: A Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Highlights

    • National Portal for Transgender Persons has been developed within 2 months of Notification of Transgender Persons (Protectionof Rights) Rules, 2020 on 29 September, 2020.

    • This highly useful Portal would help a transgender person in applying for a Certificate and Identity card digitally from anywhere in the country.

    • Most importantly it will benefit the transgender person to get the I-Card without any physical interface and without having to visit any office.

    • Through the Portal, they can monitor the status of their application that ensures transparency in the process.

    • The issuing authorities are also under strict timelines to process the applications and issue certificates and identity cards without any necessary delays.

    • Once the Certificate and I-card are issued, the applicant can download them from the Portal itself.

    • In case of delay or rejection, the applicant has the options to submit grievances through the Portal which are forwarded to the concerned person and will be resolved at the earliest.

    • The Issuing authorities through the Dashboard provided to them can view the number of applications received, the applications approved and the applications which are pending or put on hold so that they can take the required necessary action from their end. 

    • The portal will help a lot of people from the community to come forward and get Transgender Certificate and Identity Cards as per their self-perceived identity which is an important provision of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

Garima Greh: A Shelter Home for Transgender Persons

    • Located in Vadodara, Gujarat, it will be run in association with Lakshya Trust, a Community based organisation entirely run by the Transgenders.

    • The purpose of the Shelter Home is to provide shelter to Transgender persons, with basic amenities like shelter, food, medical care and recreational facilities.

    • Besides, it will provide support for the capacity-building/skill development of persons in the Community, which will enable them to lead a life of dignity and respect.

    • Scheme of ‘Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ includes

        ◦ shelter facility

        ◦ food, clothing

        ◦ recreational facilities

        ◦ skill development opportunities

        ◦ yoga

        ◦ meditation/prayers

        ◦ physical fitness

        ◦ library facilities

        ◦ legal support

        ◦ technical advise for gender transition and surgeries

        ◦ capacity building of trans-friendly organizations

        ◦ employment and skill-building support

    • 10 cities have been identified to set up 13 Shelter Homes on a pilot basis which include Vadodara, New Delhi, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Manipur, Chennai, Raipur, Mumbai, etc.

    • The scheme will rehabilitate a minimum of 25 transgender persons in each homes identified by the Ministry. 

    • This is a pilot project, and on its successful completion, similar schemes will be extended to other parts of the country.

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019

    • It came into effect on 10th January 2020 which is the first concrete step towards ensuring welfare of Transgender persons.

    • To implement the provisions of the Act the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment issued the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 which have been notified in the Gazzette of India.

    • The Rules ensure that comprehensive welfare measures reach the Transgender Community and help them come into the mainstream of the Society.

    • The right to self-perceived gender identity and the procedure to issue the Transgender certificate and Identity card has been defined in the Rules.

    • The process has been made smooth and hassle free to ensure that Transgender persons are able to attain their self-perceived identity card without any inconvenience.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants. The views expressed here are personal.)