Karnataka mulls free education proposal for transgender men and women

Taking a step towards enabling transgender men and women, Karnataka may soon be the first to provide free education to them till post-graduation. The initiative has been proposed by the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), which comprises top academicians, vice chancellors from all universities, experts and representatives from the government.Nothing has been finalized yet but a high-level committee has been set up to study the subject and formulate a proposal.

The proposal also states that girls from all communities and those with physical disability of more than 50% will get free education opportunity. All these developments have taken post a recent KSHEC meeting, as per Bangalore Mirror.

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"Tumakuru university vice chancellor Prof AH Rajasaab said that though providing free education to third genders and those beyond 50 per cent disability was feasible, providing education to all female students needed to be looked into. He proposed considering of those falling within the income bracket mentioned by the government," a source was quoted as saying to Bangalore Mirror

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Even as the state is taking this step in the right direction, Akkai Padmashali, transgender activist and co-founder, Ondede, has urged the government to include transgender men and women in the committee as members, to involve them in the discussion so that their best interests can be taken care of while formulating a policy. Safe to say though that the community is welcoming the move though. Of course implementation seems to be a while away.

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