Plea seeks compensation for transpersons without PDS card

When the plea seeking extension of the relief granted to ration card holders to all transpersons came up, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy ordered notice to the State returnable by Monday.

Appearing for activist Grace Banu Ganesan, senior advocate Jayna Kothari highlighted that most transpersons in Tamil Nadu did not have ration cards and were finding it difficult to meet medical and livelihood requirements amid the pandemic spread.

The petitioner submitted that there were more than 50,000 transpersons in the State, though the Social Welfare Department claimed that only 11,449 were identified in its survey. Of them, only 2,541 were issued ration card, she said.

The plea submitted that limiting cash relief only to persons who possessed ration cards would deny the benefit to thousands of poor transpersons who do not have a ration card due to various reasons. It also sought special vaccination drives for transpersons by assisting them to register online and provide special slots at community health centres.