Guwahati: A division bench of the Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to accelerate the process of constituting the Transgender Welfare Board under the Assam State Policy for Transgender Persons, and to complete the process within six weeks.
P Nayak, the standing counsel of the state finance department, had placed on record a copy of the sanction letter issued on June 26, 2023, as per which, acting on the request of the social justice and empowerment department, Rs 6 lakh was sanctioned as grant-in-aid for setting up the office of the Transgender Welfare Board.
Swati B. Baruah, the petitioner’s counsel, had submitted that the procedure laid out in the Assam State Policy for Transgender Persons was more or less satisfactory, and once the Board becomes functional, many issues being faced by transgender persons would be addressed.
“We, therefore, direct the respondents to expedite the process of constituting the Board in terms of Clause 7.3.3 of the guidelines of Assam State Policy for Transgender Persons and to complete the same within the next 6 (six) weeks,” the division bench comprising Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Devashis Baruah, said.
“N. Nath, learned senior additional government advocate shall take instructions regarding setting up of the Transgender Protection Cell under the DGP in accordance with Rule 11 (5) of the Rules promulgated vide notification dated September 25, 2020,” the bench said.
The bench further asked the state government to place on record the compliance report by August 8, 2023, when the PIL (2/2022) will be heard again.
The Assam government had, in February 2020, approved a draft policy for the welfare of the state’s transgender community. In March 2020, the state policy for transgenders was notified by the state government.
Notably, the state government had, through the social welfare department, formulated the draft policy for transgenders living in Assam on a rights-based framework in line with the judgment of the Supreme Court.
The move is also an attempt to understand the factors responsible for the marginalisation of the transgender community and seeks to identify the causal factors that result in the social vulnerabilities of the community in Assam.
The policy aims at delineating principles and identifying priority areas for implementing various programmes for the welfare of the transgender community.
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It also looks into the protection of the rights of members of the transgender community and seeks to create an environment where a transgender person can live a full life with dignity; where both equality and non-discrimination on the ground of gender identity and other rights are assured.
The policy further aims at raising public awareness of transgender rights and developing the capacity of relevant stakeholders to enforce these rights. Additionally, it seeks to generate large-scale sensitisation to see transgenders not as an aberration, but as an integral part of our society.
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