Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Sept 20: Transgenders in the state are soon to be officially recognised and subsequently provided certificates as the third gender. As per a draft proposal of the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DSSEPD), transgenders will also get financial aid and pre-matriculation scholarships.
Sources from the DSSEPD said the state government has agreed to implement all the five sub-schemes contained in the umbrella scheme of the Centre for the welfare of the third gender.
DSSEPD is a newly formed department in the state government created by bifurcating the Women and Child Development (WCD) department. DSSEPD has been operating from the State Institute of Disability Rehabilitation (SIDR) on the Capital Hospital premises since July.
There are over 25,000 transgenders in Orissa. They number about 4.9 lakh across the country, according to a recent estimate.
Under the new scheme drafted by DSSEPD, parents of every transgender in the state will get financial assistance of Rs 1,000 every month, said officials. In the pre-matriculation scholarship proposed in the draft, each transgender day-scholar from class VIII to class X will get `150 and the hostellers will get Rs 350 for ten months, the officials added.
Transgender students from class XI and above will also get a monthly post-matriculation scholarship – `550 for day scholars and `1,200 for hostellers – for ten months. There will also be a reimbursement of compulsory refundable fees during their higher study, said the officials.
Transgenders will also be imparted skill development training. For this purpose, `15,000 will be given to each transgender trainee for 200 hours of the course. There will be 30 trainees in each batch, said officials.
Besides, the trainee will get a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000. They will also be entitled to get a subsidy-linked loan of a maximum of Rs 5 lakh to become an entrepreneur. There is also a scheme of a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for transgenders.
DSSEPD was created with a view to give focused attention to the welfare and social security of vulnerable sections of the society such as persons with disability, senior citizens and trans-genders.
