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launch a sustained awareness campaign for the first time today,” she said. of cases, their investigation and mainte-
and encourage parents not to see the Vadodara district collector Shalini nance of law and order in railway prem-
birth of an inter-sex child as a matter of Agarwal reportedly said that members ises as well as on running trains are the
embarrassment or shame. “Any inter-sex of the transgender community were statutory responsibility of the state gov-
child is entitled to stay within the fold of enrolled as part of the Election Commis- ernments, which they discharge through
its family. The running away to the mar- sion’s directive that no eligible person the Government Railway Police (GRP),” it
gins and beyond is a fatal journey and should be deprived of the right to vote. said.
must be arrested. Time has come when When it comes to law, everyone is Last year, the Central Board of Direct
they should be brought to the main- equal. According to an RTI, more than Taxes (CBDT), which frames policy for
stream,” he said. 73,000 transgenders have been arrested the department, had issued a notifica-
In the present case, the petitioners for extorting money from railway pas- tion yesterday that provides a new tick
were an inter-caste couple and eligi- sengers in the past four years, with over box for the transgenders to apply for the
ble for financial incentives under the 20,000 alone last year. PAN. The notification, issued under sec-
Dr Ambedkar scheme for social integra- The Railway Ministry data assumes tions 139A and 295 of the Income Tax
tion, he said. significance as passengers have com- Act, specifies the new application pro-
In another recent development, 15 plained of harassment by transgenders cess for obtaining a PAN number by an
trans-women got married at a function who often board trains and extort mon- individual.
in Chhattisgarh, said to be the first such Before the move, only male and fe-
event for the transgender community in male gender categories were available to
the country. It was conceived by Raipur- It is the responsibility be chosen on the PAN application form.
based transgender and social activist A senior official said the notification
Vidya Rajput and her team. Of the 15 of the govt to launch a amending the tax rules was brought out
couples who tied the knot, seven were sustained awareness in view of some representations received
from Chhattisgarh, two each from Guja- by the CBDT in this context.
rat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, and one campaign and “Individuals from the transgender
each from Maharashtra and West Bengal. encourage parents community were facing hassles in ob-
The marriage procession was taken taining a PAN card and this problem
out from Ambedkar Bhawan in Civil not to see the birth was further magnified as Aadhaar had
Lines to Pujari Park. Transgenders suffer of an inter-sex the third gender category but not PAN.
loneliness and a kind of social boycott, “Hence, the transgenders were not able
Rajput said. “Therefore, we decided to child as a matter of to link their PAN with their Aadhaar
organise mass marriage for transgen- due to this anomaly,” the official said.
ders to send a message to people that like embarrassment or The amendment will now be reflected
other citizens we also have the right to be shame, says the high in Form 49A (PAN application form for
loved and get married,” she said. “On Val- Indian citizens) and 49AA (PAN applica-
entine’s day this year, we met transgen- court judge tion form for individuals not a citizen of
ders who were in relationship with men India), the official added.
but had not got married. We also con- ey from them. Some of these passengers PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumer-
tacted such couples from other states,” also had to face abuses, in the worst cases ic number alloted by the I-T department
Rajput added. of physical assault, in case they refused to individuals and entities. The govern-
In 2014, the Supreme Court recog- to give in to such demands. The Railway ment has now made quoting of Aadhaar
nised transgenders as a “third gender” Protection Force (RPF), according to mandatory for filing income tax returns
and ensured that they enjoy constitu- officials, has been regularly conducting (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.
tional rights and freedom, following special drives to check such instances. Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act
which the couple decided to live together In the reply to the RTI query, the says that every person having PAN as on
openly. railway ministry said a total of 73,837 July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar,
Most recently, some 250 members of transgenders were arrested during 2015 must intimate his Aadhaar number to
the transgender community voted for and till January this year while extorting the tax authorities. As per updated data
the first time in the Lok Sabha election money from passengers. Of these, a total till March 5, over 16.65 crore PANs, out of
in Vadodra. Anju Masi, resident of Baran- of 13,546 were arrested in 2015, 19,800 in the total about 33 crore, have been linked
pura locality, said thanks to the district 2016, 18,526 in 2017 and 20,566 in 2018, it with Aadhaar. The deadline to link these
administration’s initiative, members said. As many as 1,399 transgenders were two has been extended recently till June
of the community living in the area arrested in January this year, the ministry 30 by the CBDT.
enrolled as voters this time and got said. “Policing on railways being a state
i-cards. “We voted in a Lok Sabha election subject, prevention of crime, registration letters@tehelka.com

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