Srinagar, July 19: Chief Secretary Dr Arun Kumar Mehta on Wednesday held deliberations about the welfare of transgenders of the union territory so that they too become an integral part of society and get their share of rights and opportunities.
The meeting was attended by the Additional Chief Secretary, Home; Principal Secretary, Finance; Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare; Secretary, Health; Representative of the transgender community besides other concerned officers.
On the occasion, the Chief Secretary gave a patient hearing to the demands put forth by the representative of the community. He told them that the administration is committed to providing all possible assistance to the persons belonging to the community to enable them to become valuable members of society.
Dr Mehta directed the concerned departments to sensitize their staff towards the special needs of such persons so that they are able to avail of all the services smoothly. He advised them to saturate the benefits under self-employment, health and other benefits among all the persons belonging to this third gender of the population.
The CS said that every willing person in the community should be encouraged to come forward and avail the welfare measures. He asked them to frame a list of persons desirous of taking up different enterprises so that the administration would help them to secure them in a hassle-free manner. He asked them to take part in the social and economic programmes of government. He asked them to participate in PRI activities as well.
It was informed in the meeting that the total population of this gender in the UT is more than 4000 souls. It was said that the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated a scheme “SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”, which includes sub-scheme -‘Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons also.
The focus of the sub-scheme is on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities and intervention, counseling, education, skill development, and economic linkages to transgender persons. Moreover, the skill development training for the transgender beneficiaries is also being conducted through PM-DAKSH – a skill development scheme of the Ministry.
