Government drops inclusion of 'transgender rights' clauses in labour laws

The Narendra Modi-led government has shelved plans to recognize the rights of transgender persons as the "third gender" in the country's labour law framework.

According to the Hindu, the Law Ministry has raised objections to the recommendations made by the Labour Ministry which proposed to codify wages, provide protection against discrimination by inserting clauses for transgender rights in all four codes of the labour code in India. The draft bill to codify wages also had provisions to curtail the discrimination against transgenders regarding the payment of wages.

However, the reform was disapproved by the Law Ministry which contended that transgenders fall within the definition of a "person" under the General Clauses Act of 1897, hence no separate clauses were needed for them.

The Wages Code Bill in India contains 44 labour laws divided into four codes and the Labour Ministry has proposed the inclusion of clauses pertaining to transgender rights in all four of them. The objection by the Law Ministry would also mean that the term "transgender" cannot be used while stating the entitlements related to gender.

The proposal was in lieu with the Supreme Court judgement of 2014 which recognised transgenders as the "third gender" and directed the Central and state governments to look into the matter of giving them equal opportunities in education and employment.

Transgender rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi told The Hindu termed the LAw Ministry's argument as "illogical" and "hypocritical" as discrimination faced by transgenders at the workplace is a common affair. "The dignity of our body needs to be protected at the workplace as well, with basic facilities such as restrooms and equal wages," she said.

While the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 is still pending in the Parliament post the 2014 verdict, it has undergone many changes which nullified some of the key facets of the Supreme Court verdict.

The verdict had directed the governments to implement a series of welfare measures including affirmative action for the rights of the transgenders. In December 2014, Rajya Sabha MP of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) Tiruchi Shiva had passed a private matter bill which was unanimously passed by the Rajya Sabha but never reached the Lok Sabha.

Instead, the government drafted its bill in 2015 which excludes many tenets of the 2014 SC judgement, most importantly it disregards the effect on law making, with marriage, adoption, succession laws based on the binary of male and female. Criminal offences especially that of sexual violence also remain unchanged, judged only on a male-female basis.