The Coimbatore district administration has launched a scholarship for transgender and transsexual students, in what is being hailed as a move that will encourage members of the community to pursue higher education. The District Collector has invited applications for a scholarship that will provide one transgender student and one transsexual student each with one lakh rupees and one sovereign gold medal (about 7 grams gold) every year.
The scholarship can be availed by those students who are currently in their second year of undergraduation, having completed their first year in 2019-20. These students are required to have scored at least 40% in their Class XII, and in their first year of UG. The applications are open only to those students who have completed their secondary education from a government school, a government-aided school, or an assisted school for disadvantaged students. They'll also have to be residents of Tamil Nadu. The application can be submitted by those students who are pursuing their UG in the regular college mode.
The students will have to furnish documents certifying that they are transgender or transsexual. It may be recalled that the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, which had required a medical examination for a District Magistrate to issue a transgender certificate, was amended in 2020 by the centre to omit the medical examination. This came after protests from the community and allies, for the right of self-identification of members of the queer community.
A study by the National Human Rights Commission in 2018 estimated that approximately 50% of transgenders in India have not had access to any form of formal education. This move is one among many in recent attempts by the administration, and the education society to encourage more transgender students to pursue higher education. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), in 2019, for instance, made admission free for transgender students. A school in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, also opened a hostel exclusively for transgender students in 2019.
The students are required to submit their applications before 5 pm on November 24 at the Social Justice Cell of the Coimbatore Collectorate. The District Collector, Dr GS Sameeran, will then select the application of one transgender and one transsexual student each for the scholarships.
