New Delhi: In a first of its kind in India, the Centre late on Friday, constituted the National Council For Transgender Persons, headed by the Union Social Justice Minister. It comprises representatives from 10 central departments, five states and members of the community.
The council, formed under Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was announced in a gazette notification issued late on Friday, reported Hindustan Times (HT).
The council has the following functions:
- Advising the Central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons
- Monitoring and evaluating the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equali
ty and full participation of transgender persons - Reviewing and coordinating the activities of all the departments; redressing grievances of transgender persons
- Performing such other functions as prescribed by the Centre.
The council will have joint secretary-level members from the ministries of health, home, minority affairs, education, rural development, labour and law. In addition, there will be a member from the department of pensions, Niti Aayog, National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women, HT reported from the notification.
Representatives from five states or Union Territories will be members of the commission on a rotational basis. The first such clutch comprises Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Gujarat, it added.
Five members of the community and five experts, from non-governmental organisations, have also been named to the commission, the notification further added.