Transgenders’ Bill: Kejriwal assures to oppose in Rajya Sabha

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 2

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday assured a delegation of transgenders that the Delhi government and AAP will raise their concerns, including for reservations for the section like other marginalised section, over the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016, in the Rajya Sabha.

The delegation, which called on the CM today to seek support of AAP MPs against the changes proposed by the Narendra Modi government, noted that “changes made by the Modi government defeat the basic purpose of the bill, pointing out that the problem starts with the definition of transgender itself as mentioned in the government’s draft among series of other issues.

It also said that after the passage of this bill in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Cabinet proposed a series of changes in the bill that runs contrary to the Supreme Court verdict in 2014 in the National Legal Services Authority case, since the draft — recently passed in the Lok Sabha — “excludes” reservation for transgenders.