National Council for Transgender Persons

The national council for transgender persons has been set up by the Centre under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 to assist the community with better facilities.

What is the National Council for Transgender Persons?

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has set up this council to cater to the transgender community with various essential needs.
• The Union Minister of social justice will be the head of the commission.
• The commission will have representatives from ten central departments, five states, and members of the transgender community.
• The council will also have joint secretary-level members from various ministries like health, home, minority affairs, education, rural development, etc.

What are the functions of the Council?

• The council will be assigned five major functions i.e. advising the central government on matters of the community like policy formulation, programs, legislation, and projects.
• Assessment of the impression of policies and programs which aim at ensuring equality and providing full participation opportunity to the community.
• Revision and coordination of the activities of all concerned departments.
• Grievance rectification of transgender persons.
• Every state will have transgender welfare boards to look after the matter of ensuring adequate availability of various essential facilities like housing, food, healthcare, and education.

What is the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act?

It is an act of the Parliament of India that aimed at providing protection of rights of transgender people, welfare activities, and several other matters related to their betterment. The Act was passed on 26 November 2019 and commenced in January 2020.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2020