New Delhi: The Delhi government has informed the High Court that its plan to extend free travel benefits to transgender passengers on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses has reached an “advanced stage” and is now awaiting Cabinet clearance.
The assurance came through an affidavit filed by the Transport Department during a hearing on a contempt plea. The petition, moved by activist Amit Juyal, accused the authorities of failing to comply with a 2022 Division Bench order that had directed the government to decide within four months on the issue of recognising the transgender community as a “third gender” in bus tickets and granting them free travel.
According to the affidavit, a draft Cabinet note proposing the scheme was recently examined by Transport Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh. However, he sent the proposal back with instructions to align it with the model currently in place for women passengers, who receive pink tickets as proof of free rides. The department said it is revising the draft accordingly and plans to resubmit it within a week. Juyal, who first approached the court in 2021 after noticing that DTC tickets only mentioned “male” and “female,” argued that the prolonged delay has caused unnecessary hardship for transgender commuters.
Despite repeated assurances, transgender commuters remain excluded from a basic welfare benefit already available to women. The court had warned DTC in April 2023 to act promptly. With Cabinet review imminent, the scheme could soon grant equal bus travel rights to Delhi’s transgender population.