New Delhi, 15 December 2021: As per Section 10 (1) of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, “The appropriate Government shall constitute a welfare board for the transgender persons for the purpose of protecting their rights and interests of, and facilitating access to schemes and welfare measures framed by the Government.”
All the State Governments have been informed on 09.10.2020 about the enactment of the Act and Rules for taking necessary action as per the provisions.
In order to protect against discrimination and improve the status of the Transgender persons, the Ministry enacted “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019” which prohibits discrimination against Transgender Persons. Provisions of the Act came into force on 10th Jan, 2020. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 were formulated and published in Gazette of India on 29th September, 2020.
The Ministry has launched National Portal for Transgender Persons on 25th November, 2020. Any Transgender applicant can obtain Certificate of Identity and Identity Card without any physical interface with the office of issue. The person who has been issued a certificate of identity are entitled to change the first name in the birth certificate and all other official documents relating to the identity of such person. So far, 3,834 number of Transgender Certificates are issued through the National Portal.
Ministry has initiated 12 pilot shelter homes namely ‘Garima Greh’: Shelter Home for Transgender Persons. The main aim of these shelter homes is to provide safe and secure shelter to Transgender persons in need. These pilot shelter homes are in States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Ministry has provided full financial assistance to community based organizations (CBOs) for setting up of these shelter homes which provide basic amenities like food, shelter, medical care, recreational facilities and also conduct capacity-building and skill development programmes for Transgender persons.
During lockdown period in COVID pandemic a helpline was also setup to provide psychological support through trained Psychologists to Transgender Persons in distress during COVID period.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated a scheme “SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”, which includes sub scheme -‘Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons’. The focus of the sub-scheme is on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities and intervention, counseling, education, skill development, economic linkages to the transgender persons.
This information was given by Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar in the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today.