Centre pushes transgender, fisheries Bills

Activists urge government to halt process till lockdown is lifted and SC decides on Act

As the nation continues to be in lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the government is quietly going ahead with finalising two crucial legislations dealing with transgender rights and development of fisheries and other maritime activities, drawing protests from activists and other stakeholders.

More than 150 transgender activists from across the country have written to the Union social justice ministry to halt the transgender rules, 2020 until the lockdown is lifted and the constitutionality of the Transgender Act is decided by the Supreme Court.

The rules were uploaded on the ministry’s website on April 18 and feedback was expected by April 30. The new date to give feedback is May 18. The activists allege, seeking ‘feedback’ in a mere 12 days’ time when the trans community was struggling for basic survival due to the impact of lockdown was “grossly insensitive.”

“Besides, the rules have been placed only on the website and in English, while a majority of the community has access neither to web-based portals nor the English language. An act which claims to be ‘inclusive’ cannot adopt a rule-making process which is so exclusionary,” it said.

The letter asked the ministry not to go ahead till the matters pending before the Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the Act are fully decided and provisions of NALSA are complied with, lockdown is fully lifted and the situation of transgender people returns to at least a degree of ‘pre-lockdown normalcy.’ Similar was the case of the other legislations, the national mariculture policy and national inland fisheries and aquaculture policy. Activists said that it was unfortunate that during a pandemic, the national fis-heries development board was calling for comments from stakeholders on the draft national fisheries policy, 2020 on April 28 without any kind of order, simply uploaded on their website.

“The national fish workers forum would like to reiterate that the drafting of a national fisheries policy is an intensive process that requires consultation with the stakeholders, especially the fish workers organisations.

“From what we know, this draft is very hurriedly published without any consultation with the stakeholders at any level. At a time when on account of the lockdown, individuals and organisations are unable to physically meet and conduct consultations, it is highly improbable that the response to the draft will be reflective of the needs and demands of the stakeholders,” it said.

Hyderabad: The Union ministry of social justice has extended the deadline for submission of suggestions on the Draft Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 to May 18. The draft was released on April 18, with the earlier deadline for submission was April 30, giving the transgender community only 13 days to formulate their arguments.The Rules will implement the contentious Transgender Person (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court. Activists and the civil society had criticised the release of the rules in the middle of a nationwide lockdown, calling to attention how the transgender community was already struggling for basic necessities and was not ready to discuss and formulate suggestions to the government. Though the deadline has been extended to May

18, observers are still upset with the timing of it. They still maintain that the rules were not important enough to warrant their release during the lockdown and the extension could have been much longer.