Ahead of the first-ever meeting of the State Transgender Justice Board in Thiruvananthapuram on July 5, activists have stressed the need for creating more awareness among officials to ensure justice and equality for community members.
Sheetal Shyam, transgender activist, a member of the board, told The Hindu on Wednesday that the board would discuss, among other things, the guidelines to be followed for issuing identity cards to transgenders. “Formation of district-level justice boards is the next step. They will screen the applicants and issue identity cards.”
Shyam, however, said that many officials were still unaware of the importance of the transgender policy. “There are many legal glitches. The Social Justice Department can solve most of them. But the problem is that many officials are yet to understand the gravity of the issue.”
The board is an offshoot of the historic transgender policy announced by the State government a couple of years ago. According to sources in the Social Justice Department, it will monitor the implementation of the policy and coordinate with various departments to ensure that the schemes meant for the community are reaching the beneficiaries.
It will offer legal assistance to transgenders in the wake of increasing crimes against them. A round-the-clock helpline is also in the pipeline and a certificate will be issued specifying their gender for legal documents.
Soorya, transgender activist based in Thiruvananthapuram, said that Social Justice Minister K.K. Shylaja would be the chairperson of the board. Apart from six members from the community, the Secretaries of Home, Finance, Education, Law, Culture, Health, and Local Self-Government departments; directors of Social Justice and Public Instruction and a representative of a non-governmental organisation for transgenders would be part of it.
Asked about the chances of misuse of the facilities offered by the board, Soorya said that the presence of transgender representatives would prevent any such possibility.
