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New Delhi, March 31 (IANS) The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has sent recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs and city government's Department of Social Welfare for improving the living conditions of transgenders.
The Centre had passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act in 2019 and the Central Rules in 2020. However, the state rules are yet to be notified for Delhi.
Earlier, in response to a notice by the Commission, the Delhi government had informed that the approved draft rules are pending notification from MHA.
The Delhi government had also informed the Commission that the state has approved the formation of a Transgender Welfare Board and the same is pending with MHA for notification.
According to DCW, the commission has pointed out to MHA that 12 states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, have already created the Transgender Welfare Board and Delhi should not lag behind.
"Further, we had learnt that Delhi Government has not launched any scheme for the welfare of transgenders. We have recommended that the government immediately launch schemes in this regard and set up shelter homes for those transgenders who are in need of care and protection of the state," said a DCW official.
Meanwhile, the DCW has also issued notices to all District Magistrates on this issue and found out that only 76 "certificates of identity" have been issued to transgenders in Delhi in the past three years even though according to the 2011 census, Delhi had 4,213 transgenders.
"Further, most districts have received very few applications seeking Transgender Certificates. For instance, Shahdara District received only four applications in the past three years, since the Act came into effect," said the DCW official.
"The Centre must immediately notify the State Rules for NCT of Delhi and the Transgender Welfare Board for Delhi. Further, it is unfortunate that Delhi Government has informed the Commission that it is not running any schemes or shelter homes for welfare of transgenders. This needs to be immediately rectified," said Swati Maliwal, the DCW chief.
"There are several lacunas in the implementation of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 in Delhi and steps need to be taken urgently to tackle this. Hope that our recommendations will help the Centre and the State ascertain the extent of the problem and take measures to improve the situation," she added.
