As reported online The News Minute, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday, June 18, 2021, informed the Madras High Court that the state will extend COVID-19 assistance of ₹ 4,000 to all-trans persons irrespective of whether they possessed the registration cards or not. The Tamil Nadu government had earlier informed the court that it would be giving assistance of Rs 2,000 to the 8,493 trans persons who did not have identity cards.
The submission was made during the hearing of a plea filed by trans rights activist Grace Banu to include transgender persons who did not possess an ID card. The petition sought direction from the state government to distribute COVID-19 cash relief without asking for rice ration cards.
Grace’s petition argued that hundreds of transgender persons in Tamil Nadu did not possess any ID card as they had lost their ID proof while getting their identity changed to get the third gender card. Further many people from the community did not have Internet access or the required competence to go to the Union government’s portal and apply to receive a third gender card. The plea also added that hardly any transgender person had been issued with an identity card ever since the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019 and the emergence of the statutory rules framed under this act in 2020.
A report in The New Indian Express stated that the plea was adjourned to July 9 for the state government to file a report on whether any transgender person has been left out.
Source: PTI
yes,
The transgenders are in a situation where they don’t meet their financial requirements, that they can’t even ask anyone for help. They may be involved in daily wage works during normal days, but due to the lockdown and stuff, they face many difficulties. India is changing and setting an example for a progressive society, and Tamil Nadu took important steps towards transgenders.