Immediate Subsistence Assistance to Transgender In view of COVID-19 pandemic
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will provide “Immediate Subsistence Assistance “of Rs. 1,500 to the transgender person.
Key Points
This amount of assistance will be provided to transgender persons through ‘Direct Benefit Transfer- DBT’, for which the beneficiary will have to register with the National Institute of Social Defence- NISD.
National Institute of Social Defense
- NISD is registered under Societies Act XXI of 1860 (Societies Act XXI of 1860), which includes the National Capital Territory- NCT Government of Delhi.
- It is an autonomous body, acting as a central advisory body for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. It also has the status of nodal training and research institute for the social defense sector.
- Currently it focuses on the following topics such as prevention of drug abuse, welfare of elderly citizens, and prevention of begging, transgender issues and human resource development in other social defense issues.
Major initiatives of the government for transgender:
- It may be noted that in 2014, in the case of ‘National Legal Services Authority- Union of India v. Union of India’, the Supreme Court declared transgender people to be ‘third gender’.
- In 2018, the Supreme Court excluded the category of homosexual relationships as a crime under the provisions of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019
- Transgender refers to a person whose gender does not match the gender prescribed at birth. Transgender includes trans-men and trans-women, individuals with intersex differences, gender-queers, and individuals who hold socio-cultural identities, such as the Kinnar and eunuch.
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 also provides for the establishment of a National Council for Transgender (NCT).
- It is through this act that identity and certificates are provided to transgender persons, and this act gives them the right to reside with their parents and family members.
- The Act prohibits discrimination against a transgender person in various fields like education, employment and healthcare etc.
- If a crime has been committed against transgender persons, there is also a provision for imprisonment ranging from six months to two years with a fine.
- The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 is a national portal for transgender people and a ‘Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ scheme.
Source – The Hindu
