4 min readNew DelhiMar 26, 2026 02:10 AM IST
THE Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act 2019, which provides for graded punishment based on the gravity of harm inflicted on such people. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, even as Opposition members pressed for sending it to a select committee.
Replying to the debate on the Amendment Bill, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar said the proposed legislation is an effort to take all segments of society together.
He said the Modi government is committed to protecting all those who face discrimination due to biological issues and asserted that the amendment will ensure that transgender persons continue to get legal recognition and protection. The minister said such persons should be brought into the mainstream so that they do not live in dejection, adding that the Bill will help end discrimination of transgender persons. He said transgender welfare boards have been set up in over 30 states.
The Bill was passed by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha after rejecting amendments moved by the Opposition.
Kumar said the proposed legislation reflects the nation’s commitment to ensuring that every citizen enjoys equal rights and lives with dignity. “This Bill is not merely a legal reform but a pathway to justice for those who have long faced social exclusion and discrimination due to their identity,” he said.
The Bill seeks to define the term “transgender” and exclude “different sexual orientations and self-perceived sexual identities” from the proposed law’s ambit.
During discussions, AAP MP Swati Maliwal said gender inequality for transgender persons must be urgently corrected. She noted that the provision in the Bill criminalising, alluring someone to present as transgender, is vague and risky.
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“Instead of protection, we may create outright fear. We must stand up with those pushed to the margins for centuries. We must send this Bill to a select committee and hold larger consultations because dignity delayed is dignity denied,” she said.
CPI(M) MP John Brittas said while all the other countries are becoming inclusive and trying to embrace this marginalised community, India is going back a century with “exclusionary restrictive measures”. “Recently the Supreme Court-appointed Committee conveyed to the government not to proceed with this piece of legislation. What happened to that? Why is it that the government is not considering the request of the Committee,” he asked.
IUML’s Abdul Wahab, NCP-SP’s Fauzia Khan and SS-UBT’s Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi also asked the government to send the Bill to a select committee.
SP MP Jaya Bachchan said, “My request is to withdraw the Bill and bring it back after consideration in the Monsoon Session and let’s (then) discuss it.”
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DMK MP Tiruchi Siva demanded consultation from stakeholders, legal experts, civil society, transgender community as well as a review by the select committee. He said the Bill takes the right of self-identification and forces transgender persons to present themselves before a medical board for gender identification.
“I am voicing for the people who cannot come to Parliament,” Siva said.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh said in the year 2021-22, the government allocated Rs 20 crore for their welfare but could spend only Rs 1.91 crore. In 2022-23, the government spent only Rs 12 lakh out of Rs 30 crore of total allocation; in 2023-24, it spent only Rs 6.59 crore out of Rs 52.91 crore; and in 2024-25, it utilised only Rs 5.14 crore of Rs 68.46 crore, the MP said.
