The government of Delhi will provide free bus transportation for third genders: Kejriwal Arvind

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that the Delhi government would provide free transportation in DTC and cluster buses to those who identify as third gender.

He said that the Cabinet will shortly approve this idea and put the plan into action.

“Everyone has always ignored the transgender community. No other government has taken any action to support the transgender community in the seventy-five years since Independence. The Chief Minister added, “Today, the Delhi government has taken a momentous decision. They have been perceived with great disregard.” All members of the transgender community would have the convenience of free bus transportation in Delhi, just as we already provide free tickets to women in the city,” he said.

Since the national capital’s free bus transit program for women began in October 2019, 147 crore pink tickets have been distributed, according to Kejriwal.

“I learned from talking to a few women that women from different backgrounds benefited from this program,” he said.

“Now, riding Delhi’s buses for free will also help the transgender community. Kejriwal expressed his expectation that this will greatly benefit them and improve their quality of life.

At 4,213 people, the transgender community in Delhi was counted in the 2011 Census. Only 1,176 of them, according to officials, were registered to vote.

Community members who identify as transgender will be eligible to get free bus rides with a government certificate.

District magistrates now grant certificates to members of the transgender community. The Department of Social Welfare has been asked to provide information on the community by the Delhi Transport Department.

“Talks about combining all transgender people’s data for the transportation department are now taking place with the social welfare department. Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, “This initiative is expected to benefit thousands of transgender individuals in Delhi.”

A “transgender person” is defined by the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 as a person whose gender does not correspond to the gender assigned to them at birth. This category includes transgender men and women, people with intersex variations, genderqueer people, and people with socio-cultural identities like jogta, aravani, and kinner.

As to the 2011 Census, there are 4,87,803 transgender people living in India. Transgender people make up 0.86 percent of Delhi’s overall population.

According to a government statement, bus passes do not presently recognize members of the third gender community, which leaves people who identify as a different gender from male and female with little representation.

It also said that transgender people experience anguish and discomfort since they are forced to choose between the male and female genders while using bus passes because their authentic identities are not acknowledged.

Their suffering is exacerbated by conductors’ frequent berating, particularly when members of the transgender community prefer to identify as female. According to the statement, accusations that they tried to get free bus tickets make their anguish even worse. PTI SLB IJT.