Won’t vote till IDs are not updated: Transgenders

Won’t vote till IDs are not updated: Transgenders

FPJ BureauUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 05:25 AM IST
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BHOPAL :  Disappointed with Voter IDs not having a separate column for their gender some members of transgender community in the city have decided not to vote until their identiy issue is addressed. MP has over 1,410 voters of third gender. Of these, 94 voters are from Bhopal Madhya constituencies. According to 2011 census, the total population of third gender in MP is 29, 597. Out of these, 4361 and 5260 are form schedule caste and schedule tribe. A social activist Sanjana Singh told Free Press “I won’t vote until my name is added to Voter’s ID as transgender. Why election commission is not recognising our status as third gender when a separate column for third gender is available in Aadhar and Pan Card? ” Singh said, “I have been voting for 15 years.

We have been casting our votes under men’s category. But in 2013, Supreme Court recognised us as third gender, so I went to election commission to change the information against gender column from male to third gender in my voter ID card. But despite doing adding a third coloumn , they have put my name in female category on my voter ID Cards. It is a violation of our rights.” “EC staff told me that it will be changed after elections. What is this? If I vote under male or female category, how will I get benefits of government schemes, made for us? I will complain about it to election commission and MP human rights commission,” Singh added. Similarly, founder of Devi Rani Kinnar Samaj Devi Rani said,

“I have been voting at the age of 18 from male category. Now, I am 27. I have been making several rounds of collectorate for four months to get my voter card updated but to no avail. They just say ‘ho jayega …,” “If I have my own identity, why should I vote from male or female category? I am not alone. 95 % people of our community don’t have their voter ID cards according to their gender. But they don’t raise their voice because either they are not aware of their rights or its importance,” Rani added. She said, “If we don’t have our own identity, we can’t use the government’s schemes. By doing this, the government is neglecting us directly. It will specially affect our young generation. ”

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