It was with much fanfare that the State announced a special policy for transgenders in the budget this year, but some of the schemes introduced much earlier for their welfare seem to be benefitting too few.
For instance, it was in 2012 that the government announced a rehabilitation scheme for transgenders aged between 18 and 64 through vocational training, workshops and financial assistance. While 1,176 benefitted in the same year through this scheme, the numbers dwindled to 759 in 2013–14 and stood at 540 members in 2014–15, according to official statistics.
Mythri on decline
Mythri, a pension scheme introduced for transgenders aged above 40 in February 2014, has so far seen only 139 enrolments. Under the scheme, a transgender is entitled to Rs. 500 as monthly pension.
Members of non-governmental organisation (NGO) Sangama say that more than 250 applications submitted through their organisation are awaiting approval.
A hurdle in identifying the beneficiaries is that the State has no estimate on the number of transgenders, in the absence of a census.
It is forced to depend on the statics provided by the Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society (KSAPS) and NGOs.
Officials in the Women and Child Development Department said they had repeatedly pointed out the need for a government-conducted census.
The latest census of the KSAPS estimated the numbers of transgenders in State at about 24,500.
Even as it has been a year since the Supreme Court passed the landmark judgment recognising transgenders as the third sex, giving them the option to identify with the gender of their choice alongside a number of guidelines for their welfare, the situation on the ground remains far from rosy, say activists.
“A majority of transgenders even now resort to begging or sex work to survive,” said Akkai Padmashali, an activist. “One visible change is ease in acquiring driving licences and passports… Only a minority among transgenders have valid identification documents and acquiring them remains a hard task.”
Dwindling numbers
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an official from the Karnataka State Women’s Development Corporation said some of the vocational training schemes were “obsolete” and the number of members opting for them had dwindled because of this reason.
