Bengal Govt to provide transgenders with medical assistance

Transgender people in the state who are willing to change their sex will be able to get medical assistance from the state government for sex reassignment surgery at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Under this unique initiative of the state government, the surgery would be conducted on the people whose gender could not be determined from their childhood. The surgeries would be conducted free of cost. It is a very lengthy and critical process involving many surgeries. In case one is willing to become a girl, surgeries namely, facial feminisation, breast augmentation, voice feminisation, must be done. The candidates must undergo hormone replacement therapy.

People aged between 17 and 25 and whose sex could not be determined will get the opportunity of availing the surgery if they desire to change their gender. Those having gender identity disorder will mostly be covered under this new scheme that the health department is going to launch.

RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is the first state run hospital in the state where such surgery would be conducted. State health department has also planned to introduce the facility in the SSKM Hospital, the only state run super-specialty hospital in Bengal. It was learnt that initially, specialist doctors from the SSKM will provide assistance to RG Kar Hospital.

If a person belonging to the third gender appeals to the state health department, a special review committee will examine the candidature and consider every aspect before allowing the applicant to undertake the sex-change surgery. The review committee will go through the candidature to check if the pre requisite criteria were met. Counseling would be given to those who will apply for sex change to prepare them mentally so that they can accept the sudden changes in their bodies.

A nodal committee has been formed with representatives from various departments of the hospital which is examining various aspects of the new initiative. The health department has asked the RG Kar Hospital authorities to put in place the necessary infrastructure for the project. The state government will bear the entire cost of the project.

 

Image courtesy: The Quint

 

রুপান্তরকামীদের লিঙ্গ পরিবর্তন করার অস্ত্রোপচার করতে সহায়তা করবে রাজ্য সরকার

যে রুপান্তরকামীরা নিজেদের লিঙ্গ পরিবর্তনে ইচ্ছুক, তাদের অস্ত্রোপচারে সাহায্য করবে রাজ্য সরকার। আর জি কর মেডিক্যাল কলেজ ও হাসপাতালে এই লিঙ্গ পরিবর্তনের অস্ত্রোপচার করা হবে বলে সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়া হয়েছে। ১৭ থেকে ২৫ বয়স পর্যন্ত সকল রুপান্তরকামীদের এই সহায়তা দেওয়া হবে

রাজ্য সরকার পরিচালিত আর জি কর মেডিক্যাল কলেজ ও হাসপাতালে এই প্রথম এই রকমের সার্জারি হবে। স্বাস্থ্য দপ্তরের আরও পরিকল্পনা আছে পরবর্তীকালে এই সার্জারি রাজ্য সরকার পরিচালিত বাংলার সুপার স্পেসালিটি হাসপাতাল, এসএসকেএমে’ও করার। প্রথমে এসএসকেএমে’র অভিজ্ঞ ডাক্তাররা আর জি কর মেডিক্যাল কলেজ ও হাসপাতালের সার্জারিতে সহায়তা করবেন।

যদি কোনও তৃতীয় লিঙ্গের ব্যাক্তি রাজ্য স্বাস্থ্য দপ্তরের কাছে আবেদন জানান, একটি বিশেষ কমিটি ব্যাপারটি খতিয়ে দেখবে। আবেদনকারীদের কাউন্সেলিং করা হবে যাতে তারা মানসিক ভাবে প্রস্তুত হতে পারে শরীরের এই বিপুল পরিবর্তনকে গ্রহন করার জন্য।

এই নতুন উদ্যোগের জন্য একটি নোডাল কমিটি গঠন করা হয়েছে।

 

 

Toilets for ‘third gender’ in Bengal’s colleges

Soon, colleges across West Bengal will have separate toilets for transgender students.

As a step towards adddressing the concerns of the transgender community and helping them earn social acceptance, the coordination committee for West Bengal Transgender Development Board, formed by the Mamata Banerjee Government, had recommended setting up separate toilets or modifying existing ones for transgender students at all State-run and State-aided colleges.

Following the recommendation, the State Higher Education Department, in a letter dated June 30, directed all college principals to build separate toilets for the ‘third gender.’

 

বাংলার কলেজে রূপান্তরকামীদের জন্য আলাদা শৌচালয়ের ভাবনা রাজ্য সরকারের

খুব শীঘ্রই বাংলার সমস্ত স্কুল, কলেজ গুলিতে রূপান্তরকামীদের জন্য আলাদা শৌচালয়ের ব্যবস্থা করা হবে।

রূপান্তরকামীদের সবরকম সামাজিক স্বীকৃতি দেওয়ার জন্য মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের সরকার একটি ট্রান্সজেন্ডার উন্নয়ন বোর্ড গঠন করেছে। বর্তমানে রাজ্যের সব কলেজে তৃতীয় লিঙ্গ শিক্ষার্থীদের জন্য আলাদা শৌচাগার স্থাপনের সুপারিশ করা হয়েছে।

সুপারিশ অনুযায়ী, রাজ্য উচ্চশিক্ষা দপ্তর একটি চিঠির মাধ্যমে আগামী ৩০ জুনের মধ্যে সব কলেজের প্রিন্সিপালদের রূপান্তরকামীদের জন্য নির্মিত পৃথক টয়লেট নির্মাণের নির্দেশ দেন।

Transgender youth to be Eco Park guides

For transgender people and sex-workers’ children, finding employment and respectability have never been easy. There has been little hope for the marginalized people despite sustained campaigns and alterations in their legal status. In an effort to change the scene, the state-owned Hidco, along with an NGO, will appoint 15 transgender persons and sex workers’ kids to work as guides at Eco Park in Rajarhat. The new service, for which visitors will be able to choose and appoint guides online, will be inaugurated on August 15.

The 480-acre park will launch Eco Walk that aims at making “freedom more meaningful to the youth from marginalized background. These people are refused jobs for no fault of theirs. But they could be trained to work in sectors like tourism, like in south-east Asian countries. The fact that a government agency has taken the initiative to employ them will go a long way in turning things around. Every visitor will have to pay Rs 500 for the two-hour walk. HIDCO is aiming at NRIs and foreign visitors, though the facility will be available to all. They will get deserve equal opportunities. By appointing them, the authorities hope to make a beginning for them.

The West Bengal Government has taken special initiatives to upgrade status of the highly marginalised and vulnerable transgenders who are lagging behind on human development indices mainly in the areas of education and employment.

The first meeting of the West Bengal Transgender Development Board (WBTDB), set up by the state government was held at Nabanna, the State Secretariat ion July. Constituted through a resolution of the cabinet, the Board comprised of four official and nine non-official members, who were present in the meeting to discuss among other things, rehabilitation and welfare of the transgender community.

Recently Prof Manabi Bandyopadhyay took charge of the Krishnanagar Women’s College, becoming the country’s first transgender principal of the country.

WB CM hails Right of Transgender Persons Bill passed in RS

West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee today tweeted in favour of the historic The Right of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 passed in Rajya Sabha.

This is the first Private Members’ Bill to be passed in 46 years. “The Bill calls for setting up of commissions at state and central level. Bengal has already set up a Transgender Development Board,” she said in a tweet.

“Tamil Nadu & Bengal have always taken the lead in transgender welfare. Educational institutions in Bengal have also recognized third gender. More power and independence to transgender community. Happy that Bengal pioneered the concept of Transgender Welfare Board on 18 March, 2015” she added.

Bengal’s Transgender Development Board 

West Bengal government set up India’s first Transgender Development Board on the initiative of the West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee who is very much concerned for this section of the people.

The Board will have 12 persons, to be headed by a Chairperson. This Board will represent various transgender communities in the state and coordinate with the State’s Coordination Committee, which will be headed by the Minister of Women and Child Development.

The Board will distribute Identification Cards to the members of the transgender community, taking care of education, health and employment related issues. They will uphold all Rights as Citizens of India for their people and take care of the population census too.

West Bengal Govt forms India’s first Transgender Development Board

Dr Sashi Panja, Minister-In-Charge for Women and Child Development, Government of West Bengal addressed a Press Conference at Nabanna and announced the State Cabinet has passed the constitution of the Transgender Development Board, the first such Board in the country.

While addressing the Press Conference the Minister said that the constitution of the Board was done on the initiative of the West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Mamata Banerjee who is very much concerned for this section of the people. The transgender community are often seen to be deprived of education, employment and health related issues.

“They are reduced to begging on the streets and face other forms socio-economic discrimination,” said the Minister.

She said that the representatives of the transgender community have been meeting the Chief Minister on this issue.

To address these problems the Chief Minister came up with an idea to constitute a Board for Transgender Development. The Board will have 12 persons, to be headed by a Chairperson. This Board will represent various transgender communities in the state and coordinate with the State’s Coordination Committee, which will be headed by the Minister of Women and Child Development.

The Board will distribute Identification Cards to the members of the transgender community, taking care of education, health and employment related issues. They will uphold all Rights as Citizens of India for their people and take care of the population census too.

The State Cabinet has passed this very important decision and has given a green signal to set up this Development Board, which is the first of its kind in the country.