Why in news:

• Recently, the government of Rajasthan has decided to celebrate Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20) at the government level to commemorate and raise the morale of the transgender community,
• Transgender festivals, sports and other activities will be organized with government funding of Rs 10 lakh at the state level and Rs 1 lakh each at the district level.

Key Points:

• The government of Rajasthan is the first state to create a fund of Rs 10 crores only for transgenders and the celebration of Transgender day is one of the activities under this fund.
• There were 16,571 transgenders in the state in the 2011 census and now the number is estimated to be more than 60, 000.
• Last year, the state government had decided to issue separate identity cards for persons belonging to the transgender community in the state.
• There is already a Transgender Welfare Board in the state that conducts the welfare activities for this community and now a separate fund has been created.
• The government will allot 2 'Bighas' of land near Jaipur to build a community centre and old age home for transgenders.
• Besides this, they will be given free sex-change surgery and treatment up to Rs 2.50 lakh.
• A grant of Rs 50,000 will also be given to transgender for self-employment and free skill development training will also be imparted.
• Some other facilities like scholarships and counselling to the students of this community are also mentioned in the guidelines made for the fund.