Trans-gender card applications pour in, but processing slow

IN THE FIRST YEAR AFTER LAUNCH, WHEN 249 APPLICATIONS HAD BEEN RECEIVED, THE DEPARTMENT HAD PROCESSED ONLY 63 BY SEPTEMBER 2022

LUCKNOW: The most recently recorded data suggests that the number of applications coming to the social welfare department for trans-gender (TG) identity cards has crossed 1000, which is over five times the number of applications in the first year. However, over 40 percent of the applications still await processing.

In the first year after the launch of the Transgender Portal, when 249 applications had been received, the department had processed only 63 by September 2022. According to Government of India records, the highest number of registrations in Uttar Pradesh have come from Gautam Buddha Nagar, as per Mahendra Kumar of the Samaj Kalyan Vibhag deputy director’s office. Kumar also said that the district social welfare officers were tasked with helping individuals in their regions with on-the-spot registrations, awareness drives and clarification of doubts. When the TG card registration portal was launched, it was regulated that two transgender community members from every district would be identified to distribute the identity cards, after they assisted with registrations. That system is evidently not being followed. The TG portal also often suffers crashes and is defunct for hours or days .

In Uttar Pradesh, there are no government owned or partnered shelter homes for destitute transgender persons. Moreover, there are only 12 across the country. The shelter homes for transgender persons that are operational are largely run independently or by a non-profit organisation.

Ramkali, a trans woman and activist based in Noida, said that while the TG registration portal performed well in the first year, the system had now become slack with the department getting lazy with work on the ground.

“This is still a new thing even for the transgender community, with the provision of identity cards being less than threeyears-old,” she said.

Ramkali is also an advisor to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), and has founded several shelters for trans persons across Noida, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Originally from rural UP, she too struggled with acceptance and discrimination. “Considering our community as possible beneficiaries of the government and getting identity cards is a sea change - however, the momentum of work on the part of the government cannot slow down,” she stressed.

While applications for TG identity cards are veritably pouring in, it appears that several applications are pending approval or rejection with the department. Member of the Transgender Welfare Board (UP), Sonam Chishti fears that many trans persons are unable to access the TG identity card benefits mainly because of the societal stigma which prevails, “and that can only be countered with the department actively and publicly championing the cause of trans persons.”

She stressed that for many the struggle to get an identity card came with the added baggage of societal ostracism. “They get the courage to apply when it is adequately publicised in their localities, and they can rely on the benefits that follow,” she said.