After the free travel facility for women since 2019, the Delhi government is all set to offer the same to people belonging to the third gender in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Monday. He said a proposal for this will soon be passed by the Cabinet and the scheme implemented. "In our society, people belonging to the third gender are subjected to humiliation. This should not happen as they too are human beings and have the right to equality," the chief minister said in a post in Hindi on 'X'. "The Delhi government has decided that they will get to travel for free in state-run buses. Soon, this will be passed by the Cabinet and implemented. I have full faith that people of the transgender community will be greatly benefitted by this move," he added.

Earlier in the day, a senior Delhi transport department official said, "Women are already provided free travel in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS). We plan to extend the facility of free travel to people from the third gender too." The official said that the social welfare department of the Delhi government has data on people belonging to the third gender in Delhi which will prove helpful for the scheme.

Those looking to avail the benefit of this scheme will have to furnish certificates issued by the revenue department, the senior official added. In April last year, the Delhi High Court asked the city government to decide on a representation to legally recognise the transgender community as the third gender in bus tickets issued by the DTC.

The Delhi government's women and child development department had approved various measures for transgender people, including the addition of a "third gender" category in job application forms and the setting up of monitoring cells to protect them from abuse. The measures were approved following an advisory by the National Human Rights Commission to ensure the welfare of the category. The population of the transgender community in Delhi, according to the Census 2011, was 4,213. Officials said only 1,176 were enrolled as voters.

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