Radhakanta Tripathy brought the violation of the right to vote and other rights of the Transgenders living in India to the notice of the Commission.
NEW DELHI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued summon to the secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to appear before the Commission on January 13.
The secretary shall appear along with the required information/ documents regarding the right to vote and other legitimate rights of Transgenders in India.
Acting on a petition filed by noted human rights activist and Supreme Court lawyer, Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC sought for personal appearance of the Authority for inordinate delay in acting over the issue and submission of compliance report.
Tripathy brought the violation of the right to vote and other rights of the Transgenders living in India to the notice of the Commission.
It is stated that transgender are being deprived of basic necessities of life on account of the failure on the part of States to implement the SC’s NALSA judgment and provisions of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 and other UN Conventions.
Tripathy also sought for considering the appointment of one man Commission of Inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act by the Home Ministry/Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for the examination of issues concerning Transgenders in consultation with various stakeholders for redressal /resolution of the issues.
The NHRC on April 19 directed its Registry to transmit the copy of the complaint to the Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India calling for an action taken report within a period of six weeks.
The NHRC further in its proceedings on September 30, issued a final reminder to the Secretary to submit the requisite report to the Commission within four weeks, failing which the Commission will be constrained to issue a coercive process under section 13 of PHR Act, 1993.
Observing the lackadaisical attitude of the Authority, the NHRC passed the present order.
Pertinent to mention here, Tripathy in his earlier petition in 2020 to the NHRC submitted that during the Covid-19 pandemic period, the transgenders were being deprived of their basic necessities of life.
He highlighted that there was also a failure on the part of the States to implement the NALSA judgment for safeguarding their rights.
Acting on the petition, the NHRC sought ‘action taken report’ on the matter from the Chief Secretaries/ Administrators of all States/Union Territories.
On receipt of the requisites reports, the same were analyzed by the Research Division of the NHRC.
In consultation with the Core Group of LGBTI, the Commission formulated and issued an Advisory for the Protection of the Rights of the LGBTQI + Community in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic on October 16, 2020 to all States/UTs and concerned Ministry covering various aspects like food, education, protection, financial help, etc. for strict compliance and for which, action taken report were also received from the authorities concerned. Also, the Central government has constituted a National Council for transgender persons through notification of August, 21, 2020.
Courtesy: The New Indian Express
Note: This news is originally published on thenewindianexpress.com and is used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes, especially for human rights.
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