HYDERABAD: The Telangana HC on Monday directed the State to ensure free supply of essential commodities and medicines at the doorstep of transgenders till the lockdown ends. It also directed the State to file a report explaining steps taken to ensure their safety. A bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy passed the order in a PIL filed by Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, a social activist, seeking to provide free groceries, vegetables, fruits and medicines to the members of the transgender community without insisting on the ration card.
The petitioner told the court that transgenders are poor and do not have ration cards. Officials were refusing to provide them essentials on the ground that they do not possess ration cards, the petitioner said. Appreciating the State’s efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, the bench, during the course of the hearing, pointed out that no reports pertaining to the plight of the transgenders had come out all these days. If so, all the efforts by the government would go in vain. As per the SC judgment, all the welfare schemes launched by the State should reach the transgenders considering their socio-economic status, the bench observed.