Kolkata: Transgender identity card (TG ID card) should be accepted as a valid identity card for passport applications, rights activists have demanded. A TG ID card is issued by the ministry of social justice and empowerment after verification. The card is recognised nationally.
Gender rights activists cite the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act that says the TG ID card is a valid document for making changes in all other documents of the person. Annexure 1 of the Act contains a list of 18 such official documents that include passport, Aadhaar, PAN, voter, driving license, property and policy papers. But for passport application, this is still not a valid identity document. The matter came to the fore after a 30-year-old transgender woman’s passport application was rejected in Kolkata. Born biologically as a male, Achinta Das Mazumder changed the name to Anuprapbha Das Mazumder after identifying herself as a trans woman. She got her TG ID in February last year and Aadhaar card in the changed name. “I applied for a passport and I was called for an interview on May 4 at the Passport Seva Kendra in Anandapur. During the verification process I was told that TG ID card was not valid document for verification,” said Mazumder who works with an NGO. She met the officials at the passport office but with no results. “This means passport officials are not recognising the TG Persons (Protection of Rights Act),” said rights Bappaditya Mukherjee, founder director, Prantakatha.
Courtesy : TOI
Note: This news piece was originally published in timesofindia.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights
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