New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) Strategies to tackle systemic discrimination and promote inclusion of transgender people will be the top agenda at a conference being organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on September 4, an official said on Tuesday.

The national conference, themed ‘Revamping Spaces, Reclaiming Voices’, will be organised in New Delhi.

Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Chairperson, NHRC, will lead the discussions on challenges, opportunities, and policy priorities necessary to guarantee the rights of transgender persons in India.

The participants at the conference will include government officials, judicial and legal experts, policymakers, civil society organisations, community leaders, academics, law enforcement agencies, and media representatives.

The conference aims to create a national platform for dialogue on the rights and welfare of transgender persons, review the implementation of legal provisions and welfare schemes such as the Transgender Persons Act, 2019, and the SMILE scheme.

The participants will recommend practical policy reforms to strengthen institutional care, reduce stigma, and enhance access to education, healthcare, and employment.

The conference also seeks to ensure greater accountability and sensitisation within law enforcement agencies, while celebrating the voices and resilience of transgender persons and acknowledging their contribution to India’s social fabric.

As transgender persons have always been part of India’s social and cultural fabric, their journey reflects a passage from invisibility to recognition, and now towards inclusion, said a statement.

Once respected and celebrated in epics, traditions, and community practices, their dignity and social standing gradually diminished over time, leaving the community struggling for acceptance and equality, it said.

In the decades following Independence, transgender persons in India continued to face neglect and marginalisation, despite explicit constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity, and non-discrimination. Yet, the determination of the community, supported by civil society and judicial interventions, began to reshape this narrative.

The Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in NALSA vs. Union of India (2014) marked a turning point, affirming self-identification as a fundamental right and recognising transgender persons as the “third gender.”

This recognition gained strength through the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which prohibits discrimination and lays down a framework for welfare and inclusion.

In 2023, the National Human Rights Commission carried this journey forward by issuing a comprehensive Advisory on the Welfare of Transgender Persons, urging governments to ensure equal access to education, healthcare, employment, and social protection.

Each of these milestones reflects a steady march from marginalisation to dignity, from silence to voice, and from exclusion to belonging. The conference builds on this positive momentum, seeking to open new spaces of inclusion and ensure that every transgender person lives with respect, opportunity, and pride.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment launched the Garima Greh initiative as a pilot programme with 12 shelters across nine states/UTs to provide safe housing and comprehensive support to destitute adult transgender persons.

Now integrated into the Central Sector Scheme SMILE, the initiative offers temporary rehabilitation for up to one year, including safe shelter, essential amenities, healthcare, counselling, skill development, and livelihood opportunities, helping beneficiaries reintegrate into society with dignity and independence.

–IANS

rch/uk