Villager cries foul as PMAY list wrongly shows him as transgender

Bhupinder Singh, a resident of Gaith village under Machhot gram panchayat in Fatehpur development block, has lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister’s Helpline after his gender was incorrectly listed as transgender in the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY) records. Singh stated that while reviewing the list of beneficiaries and deletions on September 5, procured from the local gram panchayat office, he was shocked to discover that in the official list released on September 2 last year, his gender had been altered.

Singh alleged that the elected representatives and office-bearers of the panchayat were well aware of his identity as a male, yet his record had been changed. Calling it a deliberate attempt to insult him, he demanded a thorough investigation and strict action against those responsible.

The complainant also announced his plan to approach the Block Development Officer (BDO), Fatehpur, on Monday. If no justice is delivered, he intends to file a defamation suit in court against the Panchayati Raj Department. He further lamented that being wrongly classified as transgender has subjected him to mental agony and caused social embarrassment in his village.

Lalit Dogra, secretary of Machhot gram panchayat, termed the issue a possible “technical error”. He clarified that Singh’s gender has always been recorded as male in official panchayat records and categorically denied any fault at the panchayat level.