Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh): The state government will include the third genders in the Food Security Act.
The government lawyer informed it to a bench of Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Virendra Singh of the Jabalpur High Court on Wednesday.
The bench was hearing a petition filed on behalf of the third genders. The court sought a rejoinder from the government on the issue by August 16.
A petition filed on behalf of a third gender Noori said that the people of this community did not get the benefits of the government’s welfare schemes for not having any ID proof.
The government lawyer informed the bench that the people of third gender would get rations under the Food Security Act.
Admitting the petition, the judges gave time to the government to file the rejoinder.
The petition said that as there is no separate column for third gender in the forms being used for getting free rations and other benefits under various schemes, the people of this community have been deprived of it.
As they did not have any identity proof, they did not get food during the corona pandemic when the country was under lockdown.
According to the petition, the third gender community is divided into two groups. One gets ‘Badhai’ on the occasion of the birth of a child or on the occasion of wedding ceremonies.
The other one earns a living by doing work, says the petition.
Those who get Badhai do not face financial problems, but those who earn a living by doing some work are always in financial trouble.
As they belong to the third gender their families cast off those people, the petition said.
