Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: August 27, 2022 at 17:21 IST
When the Patna High Court directed the Bihar Government to take action to root out the pervasive discrimination against the community from the general public. It was noted that “the State is under constitutional as well as statutory obligation to protect the transgender community from the pervasive discrimination that they are facing.”
The Additional Chief Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Government of Bihar, was further directed by the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S. Kumar to call a meeting, obtain updates on the welfare measures, and issue pertinent directives to ensure that all feasible steps are taken for the benefit of this community without further delay.
In response to a writ petition filed against the pitiful state of the transgender community in the State of Bihar, the Court issued orders.
The transgender community in Bihar, which was even denied access to food due to lockdown, had horrible living circumstances, which were underlined in the PIL that Veera Yadav filed during the peak of the pandemic.
The Court has addressed a number of matters that the community is experiencing after taking notice of the situation.
The Bihar Government implemented a number of beneficial measures for the community’s betterment in response to a number of orders issued by the Court, including economic assistance, ration distribution, the publication of employment advertisements for the position of Special Unit (Transgender) at the District Level, the implementation of the reservation for the position of Constable/Sub-Inspector for people of TGC—one post per five hundred—among others.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019’s different clauses, which list the statutory obligations of the state toward the transgender community, were cited by the Court in this respect. The Court also considered the obligations under international law.
However, the Court added, with the filing of the current PIL, the State was able to take a number of notable steps that will/are having a positive impact on the community.
The Court further observed that in the case of the transgender community, not only were the State’s eyes shut, but also the prejudices so ingrained were continued without thought.
In light of this, the Court did state that it hoped the State would continue its efforts and make advancements in the achievement of all rights to the TGC as they are entitled under the Constitution of India.