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To formulate programs, policies, and projects for the transgender community of India, a National Council has been set by the Centre on August 21.

The Central government has taken a major leap and formulated a National Council in the name of the transgender community. The council will be headed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The National Council was constituted on August 21 by the Centre and was announced ina gazette notification that was issued on Friday.

The council will comprise joint-secretary level members from various ministries in the country like the Ministry of Health, Home, Housing, Minority Affairs, Education, Rural Development, Labor, and Law.

In addition to the joint-secretary level members, there will also be members of the department of pensions, NITI Aayog, National Human Rights Commission, and the National Commission for Women.

Moreover, the members of this council will also comprise representatives of the state governments and Union Territories by rotation which means one each from North, south, east, west, and northeast regions.

What functions will the National Council for Transgenders perform:

The National Council for the transgender community of the country has been formed under the Protection of Rights Act, 2019, and will perform the following functions.

• The members assigned under this council will be responsible for designing policies, plans, projects, and programs for the transgenders in India and advise the same to the Central government.
• Once the policies have been approved by the centre, the council will monitor and evaluate the impact of the policies which are designed for achieving equality in the country.
• The council will also review and coordinate all the activities by all the departments of the government and other governmental and non-governmental organizations which are dealing with the matters related to the transgender persons and their problems.
• The council will have a grievance portal that will allow the transgender to register their problems faced and the grievances would be addressed by the national council members to take immediate action.
• The council will perform and acknowledge various other programs for transgenders that are advised by the central government.
• The tenure of any council member will be for a maximum of three years.

At present, in India, there are about 490,000 transgenders as per the census results of 2014. Transgenders are facing problems like gender violence, harassment, and discrimination, both at home and in public places.

In 2018, the Supreme Court of India has decriminalized homosexuality by striking down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which termed it unconstitutional in respect of consensual homosexual sex between two adults.

By Gayatri Yellayi