Govt should enact law to protect transgenders' rights: Experts

Legal experts today said there should be a law to protect transgenders' interests and improve their living conditions.

There should be also a special provision for uplift of the transgenders by ensuring their education, owning houses, and financial assistance, among others, they said at a seminar titled 'Issues Relating to Transgender Community', organised by Madras high court in collaboration with New Delhi-based National Legal Services Authority, Tamil Nadu State Legal Services Authority and Department of Social Welfare.

Supreme Court judge P Sathasivam said, "No space for identification was provided for transgenders, which leads to complete isolation of transgenders from the very fabric of Indian society."

Urging both the Centre and the state governments to bring forward a similar legislation like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act, he said such an act would safeguard the interest of transgenders.

"There should be a separate columns to include the third gender in all government forms," he said.

Supreme Court judge Dalveer Bhandari said a database of transgenders at national and state level may be procured through a survey or through the ongoing census. "Unless we have exact number of transgenders, no scheme can be effectively formulated," he said.

To uplift the transgenders, reservation in education may be provided besides reservation in government jobs, he said.

Another Supreme Court judge, Altamas Kabir said the society should come forward to try and help transgenders to secure their due rights.