Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has formed a Transgender Welfare Board to look into the rehabilitation and welfare of transgender persons.
“In pursuance of the provision made under Rules 10 (1) Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020, and in order to make a comprehensive guideline for Rehabilitation and Welfare of Transgender Persons in the State and to protect their best interest as per the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, the State Government of Odisha hereby constitutes the State Transgender Welfare Board, Odisha,” the official notification issued on May 15 said.
The board will look into education, employment, housing, and health related schemes for transgender people and protect their constitutional and human rights. It will also monitor implementation of transgender policy and various welfare initiatives meant for them. Periodic surveys, research, and assessments will also be conducted to understand the needs and demands of the community.
The board will comprise a chairman, a vice-chairman, member secretary and 8 other members. It has representation of departments like Health, Panchayati Raj, Housing & Urban Development, Skill Development, Higher Education and School & Mass Education. 
The term of office of the board will be of 3 years, it added.
With this, Odisha becomes the 20th state/UT to form transgender welfare board. The other states/UTs are Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Maharashtra, Kerala, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and Andaman & Nicobar.
Odisha also was the first region in India to give transgender people social welfare benefits – such as a pension, housing and food grains. It also has an independent policy to provide equal opportunities to transgender persons and protection of their rights.
