Hindustan Times 10.11.2010
Delhi eunuchs to get monthly pensionThe MCD has extended its pension scheme for deprived sections to a new beneficiary – the eunuch community. The civic body on Tuesday announced a monthly pension of Rs 1,000 for them. Haryana has been giving pension to eunuchs since 2006 while Tamil Nadu runs a welfare scheme for transgenders.
“Only young eunuchs earn; those above 40 live in pitiable condition. They neither get proper nourishment nor medical care,” said Jagdish Mamgain, chairperson, Municipal Corporation of Delhi works committee.
To be eligible, candidates must submit a certificate from a government hospital attesting they are eunuchs, an affidavit saying they are unmarried and a birth certificate showing age above 18.
“As in other pension schemes, eunuchs too will have to get a recommendation from the area councillor for this,” Mamgain said.
The MCD doesn’t yet have an exact number of eligible candidates. “Our estimates show there are 2-3 lakh eunuchs in Delhi,” Mamgain said.
But Charan Singh of the NGO Development Advocacy and Research Trust said: “No survey has been done. Also, there are no guidelines in medical terms to certify a person as a eunuch. This makes it difficult to identify real beneficiaries.”
Mamgain’s answer to that: “Why would a normal person call himself a eunuch?”
The MCD’s pension plan for the disadvantaged caters to the elderly, physically disabled, widows, divorced women, and plans to cover 2 lakh people this year.
