India is slowly but steadily working towards giving equal rights and opportunities to the LGBTQIA+ community. In Delhi, 28 schools were certified as trans-friendly after conducting awareness workshops for principals, teachers and students. Meanwhile, Mumbai is all set to hold a job fair exclusively for them on 28 July.
On 14 July, an annual cultural programme of the transgender community named ‘Kinnar Mahotsav’ was inaugurated in Patna, Bihar where the State government announced some new initiatives for their welfare.
The Hindu quoted Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi saying,
“If someone [from the transgender community] undergoes sex change operation, then the Bihar government would give Rs 1.5 lakh. The newly formed Bihar Rajya Kinnar Kalyan Board (Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board) will also look into facilities being provided to the members of this community in other States…so that they too could be given to them here in Bihar.”
The Bihar government also vowed that people who treated the community unfairly with regards to giving them houses on rent or refusing them health facilities will face a jail term of 6 months to 2 years.
We sincerely hope that other states in the country follow Bihar’s example and set up their own transgender welfare boards to protect the interests of the community.