Transgender Bill: AAP assures support in Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday assured a delegation of transgenders that the Delhi government and the Aam Aadmi Party share their concerns on the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2016, currently pending in the Lok Sabha.

The delegation met the Chief Minister to seek the support of AAP MPs against the changes proposed by the Narendra Modi government after a private members bill moved by DMK MP Tiruchi Siva was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2015. This became the first private member's bill to be passed in the upper House of the Parliament in 45 years.

After the passage of this bill in the Rajya Sabha, the Union Cabinet proposed a series of changes in the bill, currently pending in the Lok Sabha. These changes have been opposed by the transgender community. The delegation informed the Chief Minister that the changes made by the Modi government defeat the basic purpose of the bill and they have problems with the definition of transgender as mentioned in the government's draft among series of other issues.

They also pointed out the draft bill runs contrary to the Supreme Court verdict in 2014 in the NALSA case, since the draft excludes reservation for transgenders. After listening to the concerns of the delegation, the Chief Minister assured the delegation that the Aam Aadmi Party will back them strongly in the Parliament.