BENGALURU: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has expressed unhappiness with universities for not making efforts to create transgender-friendly infrastructure on their campuses.
In an official circular issued to the universities, the UGC said: “You (the universities) have spared no efforts to create transgender-friendly infrastructure like washrooms, restrooms etc.... Understandably, this will go a long way in acclimatising transgender students without facing any fear, stigma or shame.”
In October 2014, the UGC had directed all the universities to come up with transgender-friendly infrastructure at universities across the nation following a Supreme Court judgment.
The UGC has also mentioned that it has plans to award major research projects to academicians who can, in collaboration with community members and other experts in the field, undertake ethnographic research on the life and culture of transgender community.
“Such research, you would agree, will lead not only to a better understanding of the transgender subculture, but also help dispel several myths pertaining to the community embedded in popular discourse,” said the circular.
The UGC has also requested the universities to encourage faculty members to come forward and take up such challenging and socially relevant research in the interest of academia.