Portal Launched On November 25, 2020, the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launched a separate portal for transgenders, ‘National Portal for Transgender Persons’, in Vadodara, Gujarat.
The portal will allow transgender persons to upload an affidavit declaring their gender, which then becomes the basis for their identity certificates to be issued by the respective district magistrates. The portal will also enable them to register their grievances and help build a database of the community.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was enforced on January 10, 2019. This is the first Act which is mainly aimed at ensuring the welfare of the transgender community. To implement the provisions of the Act, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had issued the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 which have been notified in the Gazzette of India (GOI). These rules are for ensuring that the comprehensive welfare measures reach the transgender community. Over a period of time, this would help them to come into the mainstream of the society. The right to self-perceived gender identity and the procedure to issue the transgender certificate and identity card have been laid out in the 2020 rules. With the introduction of the portal the process has been made smooth and hassle-free to ensure that transgender persons are able to attain their self-perceived identity card without any inconvenience.
This portal would help transgender persons to apply for a gender certificate by uploading an affidavit online by declaring their gender. The respective district magistrates are then required to issue the transgender identity certificate on the basis of the affidavit. A transgender person can apply for a certificate and identity card digitally from anywhere in the country. The main advantage of this system is that a transgender person can get an identity certificate without any physical interface and without visiting any office to procure it. A person who has applied for this certificate can monitor the status of the application through the portal. The timeframe of issuance of the certificate of the transgender person is specified in the portal while applying online by the person. The issuing authorities are given strict timelines to adhere and process the application and issue certificates and identity cards. Once they are issued, the transgender person can download the certificate and identity cards from the portal itself.
If there is a delay or if the application of the transgender is rejected for any reason, the transgender applicant can submit grievances through the portal and the authorities concerned are required to solve the issue. The government is taking measures to strengthen the National Portal for Transgender Persons portal to act as a single point window for the transgender community to avail various welfare measures and benefits planned by the government.
Garima Greh: A shelter home for transgender persons, Garima Greh was also inaugurated in Vadodara, Gujarat. A part of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, this shelter would provide transgender persons many facilities, such as shelter, food, clothing, recreational facilities, skill development opportunities, yoga, meditation/prayers, physical fitness, library facilities, legal support, technical advise for gender transition and surgeries, capacity building of trans-friendly organisations, employment and skill-building support, etc. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has taken this step to improve the conditions of the transgender persons by providing them with better living conditions. This would enable the transgenders to lead a life of dignity and respect. It has identified 10 cities for the setting up of 13 such shelter homes for transgender persons in its pilot project. The 13 community-based organisations for this project have been identified by the ministry. The cities identified for Garima Greh include: Vadodara, New Delhi, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Kolkata, Manipur, Chennai, Raipur, and Mumbai. Each Garima Greh is expected to rehabilitate a minimum of 25 transgender persons. On successful completion of this pilot project the ministry is planning to extend similar schemes to other parts of the country.