Apart from many path-breaking announcements made in State Budget 2018-19 of (J&K) like Financial support to students who get admission in top colleges of the world. Revival , streamlining and Upgradation of corporations, support to handloom development corporation, Comprehensive health insurance scheme for poor people, Corporate restructuring of JKSPDC Ltd, Reviewing Recruitment Rules etc but first time in the history of the state, Budget has treated transgenders as a separate category. The watershed decision ever taken is the real Welfare measure for the transgender people – the most marginalised lot of our society.
Transgender people have existed in every culture, race, and class since the story of human life has been recorded. The contemporary term ‘transgender’ arose in the mid-1990s from the grassroots community of gender-different people. The condition of the third gender across the world varies as different parts of the world practise different cultures and to follow different norms and traditions. The present scenario of the lives of the people of this community is unacceptable and in some cases pitiable.
In India there are a host of socio – cultural groups of transgender people like hijras/ kinnar etc. However, these socio-cultural groups are not the only transgender people, but there may be those who do not belong to any of the groups but are transgender persons individually.
The first step towards third gender equality occurred in India in 2009 when the Election Commission added “other” as a gender option on official ballots. The Supreme Court in India has recognized Hijras and other transgender groups as an official third gender in a 2014 landmark ruling. In the 2011 Indian Census, nearly half a million transgender people registered under the ‘other’ gender option. It is estimated that today over 2 million Indians identify with a non-binary gender.
A nationwide awareness and acceptance campaign was launched as the first step in erasing the deeply-rooted social stigma and prejudices that this vulnerable group faces from other members of society. The campaign was managed by the newly-implemented government social welfare programs that had been created to support the third gender community.
Social welfare departments provide a variety of social welfare schemes for socially and economically disadvantaged groups. However, so far, no specific schemes are available for Hijras except some rare cases of providing land for Aravanis in Tamil Nadu. Recently, the state government of Andhra Pradesh has ordered the Minority Welfare Department to consider ‘Hijras’ as a minority and develop welfare schemes for them. Stringent and cumbersome procedures and requirement of address proof, identity proof, and income certificate hinders even the deserving people from making use of available schemes. In addition, most Hijras/TG communities do not know much about social welfare schemes available for them.
The Constitution provides for the fundamental right to equality, and tolerates no discrimination on the grounds of sex, caste, creed or religion. The Constitution also guarantees political rights and other benefits to every citizen. But the third community (transgenders) continues to be ostracized. The Constitution affirms equality in all spheres but the moot question is whether it is being applied.As per the Constitution most of the protections under the Fundamental Rights Chapter are available to all persons with some rights being restricted to only citizens. Beyond this categorization the Constitution makes no further distinction among rights holders.
But official identity papers provide civil personhood. Among the instruments by which the Indian state defines civil personhood, sexual (gender) identity is a crucial and unavoidable category. Identification on the basis of sex within male and female is a crucial component of civil identity as required by-the Indian state. The Indian state’s policy of recognizing only two sexes and refusing to recognize hijras as women, or as a third sex (if a hijra wants it), has deprived them at a stroke of several rights that Indian citizens take for granted. These rights include the right to vote, the right to own property, the right to marry, the right to claim a formal identity through a passport and a ration card, a driver’s license, the right to education, employment, health so on. Such deprivation secludes hijras from the very fabric of civil society. But it is for the first time in the history of India that Jammu and Kashmir State has announced that transgenders shall be treated as living under BPL extending all facilities.
In his budget speech Dr Haseeb Drabu spoke extensively for the poor and marginalised classes and announced Rs 1 lakh insurance cover to the BPL families. He said every transgender shall be treated as living under BPL unless indicated otherwise, adding, all the transgender in the state will be extended all the facilities that will be available to BPL which includes cheap food-grains, LPG, electricity connections, IAY scheme etc.”Free life and medical insurance cover and a monthly sustenance pension on the pattern of old age pension scheme for all transgender people above the age of 60 who are registered with the social welfare department is proposed. These type of initiatives will uplift them and empower them to live a decent living. This step is a welcome step and there are lot many things which are required which includes Granting of equal rights and protection to transgender persons,Inclusion of a third category in recording one’s sex/gender in identity documents like the election card, passport, driving license etc and ration card and For admission in educational institutions, hospitals, among others. And more importantly is to run public awareness through varioys campaigns and use of print and electronic media to erase the social stigma attached to them. Last but not the least this type of budget has ensured that budget policies are equitable and it has fostered a reduction in inequalities and equality of opportunity, taking better account of the differing needs of gender.
Author is assistant professor in IMPA