Lack of identity and address proof impede schemes for transgenders

‘Many in the community live together in crammed spaces'

May 04, 2012 08:38 am | Updated July 11, 2016 01:47 pm IST - Bangalore

Karnataka State Women Development Corporation organised a Convention of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangalore on 3rd May, 2012. Paticipants seen going through the entrepreneurs products on display Photo: K.Gopinathan

Karnataka State Women Development Corporation organised a Convention of Women Entrepreneurs in Bangalore on 3rd May, 2012. Paticipants seen going through the entrepreneurs products on display Photo: K.Gopinathan

The Karnataka State Women's Development Corporation, which recently introduced schemes for transgender women, is facing glitches in their implementation because most people of the community do not have valid identity and address proof.

Speaking at a convention of women entrepreneurs, corporation chairperson Sarojini Bharadwaj drew attention to the abysmal conditions in which transgender women live and urged the government to build short stay homes for them.

“Many in the community give the same address simply because all of them live together in crammed spaces. Our officers have problem doing address verification,” said Ms. Bharadwaj.

The corporation had earlier this year announced that it would provide vocational training for transgender women and sex workers. Ms. Bharadwaj said that the training had taken off in Raichur.

Responding to this, Minister for Energy and Food and Civil Supplies Shobha Karandlaje regretted that there was not even data on the number of transgenders who live in Karnataka.

She said that she had spoken to people of the community and urged them to apply for ration cards and other such valid identity and address proof documents. “Some of them have done it,” she said.

A majority of them take to sex work for the lack of a choice, she said, and added that some job opportunities were now opening up for them.

Invitation to GIM

Murugesh R. Nirani, Minister for Large and Medium-scale Industries, invited women entrepreneurs who run small-scale units to participate in the exhibition to be held at the venue of the Global Investors Meet (GIM) on June 7 and 8. “We are already giving small entrepreneurs a concession of 50 per cent in hiring stalls, we will give more incentives if women come forward,” he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.