To do an in-depth study of the problems being faced by the transgender community and suggest suitable measures to ameliorate their conditions, the Centre has set up an expert committee in the light of the recent Supreme Court judgment, which asked the States to act towards their well-being.
“The Government has formed an inter-ministerial panel to pursue the implementation of recommendations made by an expert committee on the issues of the transgender community after the recent apex court judgment,” said Sudarshan Bhagat, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in a written reply to Rajya Sabha “The committee submitted its report on 27th January 2014, after which the Centre went on to form the panel,” he said.
Bhagat also said, “On 15th April, the Supreme Court in a writ petition filed by National legal Services Authority (NlSA) has delivered its judgment on the issues of transgender persons, directing the Central and State Governments to take various steps for the welfare of the transgender community and also to examine the recommendations of the expert committee based on the legal declaration made in the above said judgement and implement them,” Bhagat said.
In their judgment, the SC had created the “third gender” status for the transgenders. Prior to which, they were forced to write male or female against their gender.The SC asked the Centre to treat transgender as socially and economically backward.The apex court had also said that transgenders would be allowed admission in educational institutions and given employment on the basis that they belonged to the third gender category.