State to give Rs 2,000 for transpersons registered with welfare board

The state government will begin distributing the first instalment of the COVID-19 cash relief of Rs 2,000 to all transpersons in the state, which includes those who do not have a ration card.

The MK Stalin government had earlier announced the relief to be meant for only those people who have a rice ration card.

The state government had given this clarification before the Madras High Court Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy on Monday. This was following a writ petition filed by transgender activist Grace Banu requesting a direction to the state government to pay the cash relief without insisting on ration cards.

The cash relief will be provided to all the transpersons in the state who have registered with the welfare board for third genders. A total of 8,493 transgender people have registered so far.

Transgender activist, writer, artist and public speaker, Kalki Subramaniam said, “The decision of the state government to provide the first instalment of cash relief of Rs 2,000 to all transpersons registered with the Welfare Board for third genders is a welcome move and highly appreciated. This gives much relief to our people and I do thank the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin for this gesture.”

The Tamil Nadu Advocate General had in the previous hearing of the case confirmed to the court that the government would take sympathetic action.