Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Government of India organised a consultation meeting with objective of finding out the status and problems of transgender community and to obtain the views of experts, researchers, concerned central and state governments for main streaming the transgender community and other issues related to transgender on August 23 at New Delhi.
Consultative meeting was attended by around forty participants including functionaries of ministries of law and justice, health and family welfare, home affairs, external affairs, labour, rural development etc, concerned state departments, university professors, NGO functionaries, transgender community leaders etc., were present during the meeting. Anoop Srivastava, additional secretary has chaired the meeting. TR Meena, Joint Secretary (social defense) of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has coordinated the meeting.
Anoop mentioned that the ministry is organising consultative meeting on transgender first time and folk of transgender community faces plenty of problems in their everyday life. Further he said ministry has been graphing the information pertaining to these groups and ministry also need to get better educated on the issue through listening to the transgender and subject experts. He emphasised that the ministry is committed to improve the condition of transgender and this condition is the important step in this direction.
TR Meena, Joint Secretary(SD), briefed that Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has been designated as nodal ministry with effect from July 2012. He pointed out that that Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment will coordinate with other ministries and departments to mainstream them. He made mentioned that in olden days, kings were used to keep transgender in palaces for various purposes and he emphasised that transgenders used to be considered a divine creation. But today they are highly marginalised population and facing lack of respect and dignity. They live their life as untouchables and face stigma in their day to day life. Rural Ministry employs under Rajiv Awas Yojana.
The discussion held with transgender leaders and subject experts, the issues of transgender’s identity, health, violence, exclusion from family and society, legal hassles and police torture, stigma and discrimination, social security, housing, enumeration, census and election card, passport were taken up.
The meeting were attended by officials from Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of law & Justice of the Government of India and Department of Social Defence Chennai, Department of Social Welfare and Women, Child Development Delhi, State Commission for Women Maharastra, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh, State Government, Bal Krishna Shukla, Member of Parliament Vadodara, Jamia Milia Islamia University, Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and key personalities such as Shabnam Mausi, Kamla Bua, laxmi Narayan Tripathi and various key NGOs.