MADURAI: Responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking implementation of the NALSA judgment, passed by the Supreme Court in April 2014, the state government told the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that TN is a pioneer state in implementing various welfare measures for the transgender community.
The state has taken serious efforts in ensuring their right to live with dignity, right to privacy, freedom of expression and also provides them easy access to education and public employment, the government said in its counter affidavit.
In the NALSA judgment, the apex court had directed the union and state governments to give legal recognition to the gender identity of transpeople and provide them necessary help in education and employment among other walks of life. Alleging that the said directions were not being executed properly, S Muthukumar, who is a Madurai-based advocate, sought a direction to the Union Cabinet, secretary of Law and Justice and state chief secretary, to implement the judgment.
Refuting the allegations, the state government told a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala and Justice KK Ramakrishnan that a welfare board called ‘Third Gender Welfare Board’ for transpeople has been formed and identity cards are issued to them.
Nearly 7,574 transpeople have been identified and 6,553 of them have been issued with identity cards, the government said. Besides this, the government has also provided 2,541 ration cards, 1,671 house-site pattas, 1,489 health insurance cards, among others to the community members, the counter affidavit said. Nearly 20 transpeople have been appointed in various government departments including police, health departments (hospitals and medical colleges), it added.
The state government further said apart from implementing the Supreme Court directions, it has taken various innovative measures for the welfare of community such as creating a mobile application for spreading awareness about welfare schemes and benefits, conferring an annual award titled ‘Third Gender Award’ with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh to encourage them and forming a tailoring cooperative society to improve their livelihood, the counter affidavit further said. Recording the steps taken by the government, the bench disposed of the PIL