Transport Minister K.N. Nehru said here on Monday that the State government was showing keen interest in the welfare of transgenders and providing assistance through various welfare schemes.
The Minister distributed identity cards to 47 transgenders in the first phase issued by the Transgender Welfare Board at a function and said that as many as 150 transgenders had registered their names in Tiruchi district and all of them would be provided with identity cards.
He said that transgenders having identity cards issued by the Transgender Welfare Board could alone avail all the benefits under various welfare schemes and pointed out that they would also be covered under the Chief Minister Dr. Kalaignar’s Health Insurance Scheme for Life Saving Treatments.
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The Minister said the transgenders were also eligible to get house site pattas, group houses, free education, old age pension, compensation of Rs.10,000 for natural death through the Transgender Welfare Board. He said that all the remaining transgenders would soon be provided identity cards after getting the approval from the doctors’ panel constituted for this purpose.
Collector T. Soundiah who presided over the function, said that transgenders were also eligible to get the assistance from welfare schemes that were being implemented for the poor and weaker sections of the society. Tiruchi Corporation Commissioner T.T. Palsamy, District Social Welfare Oficer C. Lakshmi, State Transgender Welfare Board member Mohana and others spoke.