National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP) UPSC

National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP)

Composition and structure of National Council for Transgender Persons : 

- It will be headed by the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment (ex-officio) and Union Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment will be Vice-Chairperson (ex-officio). 

- The council will have joint secretary-level members from the Ministries of Health, Home, Minority Affairs, Education, Rural Development, Labour And Law. In addition, there will be a member from the department of pensions, NITI Aayog, National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women. 

- Representatives from five states or Union Territories, on a rotational basis, will be members of the commission. The first such clutch comprises Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Gujarat. 

- Five representatives from the transgender community and five experts, from non-governmental organisations. 

- The members of the council other than the ex officio members, shall hold office for a term of three years. 

Functions of National Council for Transgender Persons :

- To advise the central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons. 

- To monitor and evaluate the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons. 

- To review and coordinate the activities of all the departments of Government and other Governmental and non-Governmental Organisations which are dealing with matters relating to transgender persons 

- To redress grievances of transgender persons 

- To perform such other functions as prescribed by the Centre. 

Need for the National Council for Transgender Persons 

- Intersex people are often marginalised in the legal and policy discourse. The distinction between gender identity and sex characteristics is also not understood. To bring about changes in the existing governance regime, there was the felt need of a body to work and engage with the system. 

- The council will help government in identifying the problems faced by the transgender community members and probable solutions. 

Various challenges being faced by the transgender community are: 

• Discrimination by their own family members and society leading to barriers in accessing public spaces and shelter. 
• Lack of access to educational opportunities as Indian schools remain unequipped to handle children with alternative sexual identities. 
• Lack of employment opportunities due to hiring biases, on-the-job discrimination, wage inequalities and thus they are forced into professions like prostitution and begging for livelihood. 
• Barriers in accessing health care services, because of the lack of treatment awareness, and incidences of disrespect, harassment and violence. The community is highly vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV AIDS and Mental health.
• Legal hurdles in possessing identity documents. 

Concerns related to National Council for Transgender Persons

- Less horizontal and vertical representation:

• The council has inadequate community representation for a population of 4.88 lakh. 

- Indigenous problems of the unrepresented states and of uneducated and poor section of community might also not get adequate representation. 

- Lack of transparency: Parameters for selecting members are not disclosed to the general public. 

- The notification contains no provision for establishing coordination between the National Council with the Transgender Development Boards set-up post the NLSA judgement in various states.