Following a “manifesto moment” in the lead-up to the 2024 general election where several major political parties pledged support for the LGBTQ+ community, the 2024 Union Budget has dashed the hopes of queer Indians yearning for recognition in national politics.
A transformative overhaul of the government’s approach towards LGBTQ+ rights was never expected — especially given the Solicitor General’s vehement opposition to marriage equality before the Supreme Court of India last year. Yet, the mention of transgender rights in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s own manifesto had sparked a glimmer of hope for progress under a Modi 3.0 government.
Instead, the LGBTQ+ community found itself reduced to a mere footnote in the Budget: the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s allocation for “Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons” under the Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE) programme. This programme promises to fund Garima Grahas (shelter homes), scholarships, and the National Council for Transgender Persons.
Meagre funding for crucial programmes
On paper, the budgetary outlay for transgender welfare increased from ₹52.91 crore in FY24 to ₹68.46 crore in FY25. But a closer look reveals a harsh reality: actual expenditure was a meagre ₹22.82 crore in FY24. Nowhere is the impact of this discrepancy more starkly reflected than in the fact that most Garima Grahas have shut down over the past two years due to lack of funding, and the NCTP is barely functional.
With just a meagre increase for this financial year, who will fulfil the guarantee to build Garima Grahas, promised in the ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas’ section of the BJP’s 2024 Sankalp Patra?
SMILE is not the only victim of the government’s apathy. Even more troubling is the reduction in funding for the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) from ₹3,079.97 crore in FY24 to ₹2,892.00 crore in FY25.
NACO, tasked with both combating HIV/AIDS and preventing Sexually transmitted infections, plays a crucial role in public health. Despite decades of progress, India still faces one of the largest HIV epidemics in the world, with LGBTQ+ Indians at a higher risk of contracting the virus and facing distinct psychosocial challenges.
Today, over 2.4 million people in India live with HIV. Of those, almost 900,000 are not linked to treatment—and more than half a million are unaware they are even infected.
The last credible study by NACO in 2003 estimated that 6% of India’s adult population was infected with STIs. The more recent National Family Health Survey (2019–21) highlighted that 23.3% of sexually active unmarried men between 15 and 29 had more than one sexual partner, with risky sex practices and lack of condom use prevalent in both urban and rural areas. What prompted the government to slash funding not only for HIV prevention but also the fight against STIs when we are staring at a potential public health crisis?
A denial of rights
The lack of budgetary allocation is not just about misplaced priorities or ideological differences. It is a systematic denial of the rights of millions of LGBTQ+ Indians, blocking their access to an equal share over the country’s resources.
The numbers lay bare the reality. The 2011 Census counted 4.9 lakh transgender Indians. Even if we accept this disproportionately low figure, the 2024 Budget allocated a meagre ₹1,400 for the welfare of each transgender citizen. More realistic estimates suggest that the transgender population in India is around 1.22 crore, making this average allocation a pitiful ₹56 a person.
Young Indians, emboldened by recent court victories affirming that the Constitution of India protects every single Indian citizen regardless of gender or sexuality, need a government that creates safe spaces to ensure that they are not harassed or bullied in schools — one that provides inclusive mental health care to prevent rising suicide rates among young LGBTQ+ youth, and one that guarantees equal access to education and employment.
Political support helps
I hope that Members of Parliament from the Opposition parties, including my own party (the Nationalist Congress Party), which raised the demands of the LGBTQ+ community in their election manifestos, stand up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Indians in Parliament. I also hope — perhaps naively — that those in the government who got transgender rights included in the BJP’s manifesto in the first place realise their missteps and work towards a shared vision of an inclusive future.
For too long, queer Indians have relied upon courts as guarantors of rights. As we navigate new political paradigms, it is important for the queer movement to build upon an impressive history of active political engagement — one that saw the Namdeo Dhasal march, in 1988, with trans women and sex workers from Kamathipura to the then Chief Minister Sharad Pawar’s residence to demand protection from moneylenders and Shabnam Mausi being elected elected as India’s first transgender MLA from Sohagpur in Madhya Pradesh in 1998.
Recent successes, such as the establishment of the transgender welfare board in Maharashtra in 2020 and the drafting of Tamil Nadu’s LGBTQ+ policy in 2024, indicate that judicial progress results in executive action only when sustained by civil society pressure. We must take this lesson to heart, working not only with the Centre but also States and local bodies to ensure that rights recognised on paper are effectively implemented in practice.
Anish Gawande is National Spokesperson, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Founder, Pink List India
