Chennai: Legal experts on Saturday said there
should be a law to protect transgenders' interests and improve
their living conditions.
There should be also a special provision for uplift of
the transgenders by ensuring their education, owning houses,
and financial assistance, among others, they said at a seminar
titled 'Issues Relating to Transgender Community', organised
by Madras High Court in collaboration with New Delhi-based
National Legal Services Authority, Tamil Nadu State Legal
Services Authority and Department of Social Welfare.
Supreme Court Judge P Sathasivam said, "No space for
identification was provided for transgenders, which leads to
complete isolation of transgenders from the very fabric of
Indian society."
Urging both the Centre and the state governments to
bring forward a similar legislation like the Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes Act, he said such an act would safeguard
the interest of transgenders.
"There should be a separate columns to include the third
gender in all government forms," he said.
Supreme Court Judge Dalveer Bhandari said a database of
transgenders at national and state level may be procured
through a survey or through the ongoing census. "Unless we
have exact number of transgenders, no scheme can be
effectively formulated," he said.
To uplift the transgenders, reservation in education may
be provided besides reservation in government jobs, he said.
Another Supreme Court Judge, Altamas Kabir said the
society should come forward to try and help transgenders to
secure their due rights.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 18:02