“Transgender Community Systemic Discrimination Shall Not Be Cured Only By Employment Opportunities”: Patna High Court
The Patna High Court recently observed that employment opportunities alone will not end the systemic discrimination against transgender people (TGC) that has existed in society for a long time.
The bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S. Kumar in Veera Yadav vs. The Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar and Ors (Case No.5627 of 2020) stated that the State must take steps to eradicate discrimination within the general public in addition to welfare measures aimed at TGC.That could include programs that raise awareness and alert people;training for educators and educational reforms;etc.,” Court proposed.
“The State is under constitutional and statutory obligation to protect the transgender community from the pervasive discrimination that they are facing,” the court added.
Facts of the Case
The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) about the hard times the transgender community in the state of Bihar had to go through during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this PIL, which was filed in 2020, the court previously issued a number of directions for the TGC’s welfare. In response, the state government implemented a number of measures, including economic assistance, ration distribution without requiring TGC members to provide a ration card, and the recruitment of TGC members into the police force as a separate unit.
Judgement
“The High Court expressed its hope that the State will continue the same during the most recent hearing while appreciating the measures taken by the State government up to this point.” The court stated, “It is our hope that the State will continue making efforts and breaking new ground in realization of all rights to the TGC as they are entitled under the Constitution of India,” and it expressed hope that the state would do so.
In addition, the high court directed the state government to expedite the steps marked as pending in the chart, referring to the state government’s record of the steps it had taken to comply with the Supreme Court’s directions in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (2014) for the benefit of the TGC.
In addition, the court orders the Additional Chief Secretary of the Social Welfare Department of the Government of Bihar to convene a meeting, obtain updates on the welfare measures, and issue appropriate instructions to ensure that all necessary steps are taken immediately for the benefit of this community.
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JUDGEMENT REVIEWED BY ROLI NAYAN.