CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that it is considering providing Rs 4000 in financial aid to transgenders even if they do not possess a ration card.
The state's advocate general R Shumughasundaram informed the court that it will sympathetically consider the matter pertaining to transgenders and the need to possess ration cards may not stand in the way of their receiving the relief.
According to the petitioner's counsel Jayna Kothari, the transgender community has been left out of the financial aid even as they are facing a dire crisis. Also, not many of them possess ration cards to avail the scheme.
The petitioner, Grace Banu, a transgender activist of Thoothukudi in her plea stated that over 50,000 transgenders in the state have lost their livelihood due to the lockdown imposed by the state to control the spread of COVID-19.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy recorded the submissions and adjourned the plea to June 7 for the state government to file a detailed report.