Bhubaneswar: State Government’s “Sweekruti” scheme for promotion of transgender equality and justice is a milestone initiative for the welfare of transgender community, said Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister, SSEPD.
Addressing the Inaugural programme of Regional Consultation on the welfare of transgender, organized by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GoI, NITI Ayog, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) here, Panda highlighted on various measures undertaken by State Government to safeguard their dignity and social security.
This was the second regional consultations on issues related to welfare of transgender persons and to sensitize local administration about “The Transgender Persons(Protection of Rights) Act, 2019”, National Portal for transgender persons and recently launched scheme “SMILE” (Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise) in which delegates from States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Andaman-Nicobar (UT) participated.
Besides, representatives of Civil Society and Officials from line Departments of concerned States also attended the programme. Emphasizing on various schemes of State Government for the transgender persons, Panda said that SSEPD Department has covered them under Social Security umbrella with Madhubabu Pension. He also said that Transgender Protection Cells have been opened in all the districts along with grievance redressal machinery in every department.
About 86 Self Help Groups of Transgender persons are working in the State, while about 1600 persons have been issued certificates through the national portal. Infrastructure facilities for skill development of transgender persons are prioritized and they have been provided livelihood support through engagements in Swachha Abhijan, collection of Tax and Parking Fees, Garbage disposal and Micro Composting activities etc.
Attending the inaugural session Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, SSEPD said on programme components for transgender welfare like identification, multipurpose smart cards, scholarship, capacity building, community awareness and assistance to parents of TG children.
Dr. Chiranjeev Bhattacharjya, National Programme Manager, UNDP and Gb Panda, former Senior Advisor, Social Justice, Planning Commission also spoke. Bratati Harichandan, Director, SSEPD welcomed the guests, delegates and participants to such purposeful deliberation, while Abha Mishra, State Head, UNDP proposed vote of thanks.
Panel Discussion on the initiatives and way forward for implementation of the transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Act-2019 and transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Rules-2020 were held after the inauguration in which Dr. Muniraju S.B., Deputy Advisor, NITI Ayog spoke elaborately on different issues related to the welfare of transgender persons with thematic areas like health, education, awareness, housing and other matters.
Shantanu Dixit, Assistant Director, MoSJE discussed on the flagship initiatives on transgender persons including the implication and scope of “SMILE” scheme.
