Panel to formulate transgender policy

Ananya Panda

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 22

The government has decided to formulate a policy for the welfare of transgender and a seven-member panel, comprising experts from the field, will be constituted in this regard.

The committee, whose names of the members will be formally shared on Monday, will submit its report within three months with recommendations on schemes and steps in the light of the landmark Supreme Court judgement to strengthen the rights of the transgender community in the capital.

“We have started work towards having a committee for framing a policy for transgenders. The committee will delve into primary health, school education, legal aid and skill development among other issues related to the transgender. It will submit its report within three months and officially the committee will be declared on Monday,” Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam told The Tribune.

The committee will comprise a clinical psychologist from IBHAS, a senior social welfare official, a retired doctor from defence forces, three representatives from the section, including a doctor from Mumbai, assistant professor and a transgender and lawyer-activist Laya Vasudevan, director of the Delhi-based Centre for Legal Aid and Rights. Laya is known for her contribution in the 2014 landmark judgement of the Supreme Court that recognised transgender as the third gender in the country.

The committee will suggest steps towards welfare of transgenders and inclusion of the community into mainstream society.

The government has provisions for providing free education to transgender students and 25 percent reservation under the Economically Weaker Section category.