Daily Current Affairs – 2020

Topic: For Prelims and Mains

National Portal for Transgender Persons

Why in news?

Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot e-launched a ‘National Portal for Transgender Persons’ and e-inaugurated a ‘Garima Greh: A Shelter Home for Transgender Persons’ in Vadodara, Gujarat.

• National Portal for Transgender Persons has been developed within 2 months of Notification of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 on 29 September, 2020.

 

• The Portal would help a transgender person in applying for a Certificate and Identity card digitally from anywhere in the country.

 

 

FACILITIES:

• The most important benefit is that it helps the transgender person to get the I-Cardwithout any physical interface and without having to visit any office.
• Through the Portal, they can monitor the status of their application that ensures transparency in the process.
• The issuing authorities are also under strict timelinesto process the applications and issue certificates and identity cards without any necessary delays.
• Once the Certificate and I-card are issued, the applicant can download themfrom the Portal itself.

 

GRIEVANCES AND REDRESSAL MECHANISM:

 

• In case of delay or rejection, the applicant has the options to submit grievances through the Portal.

• This are forwarded to the concerned person and will be resolved at the earliest.
• The Issuing authorities through the Dashboard provided to them can view the number of applications received.
• The applications approved and the applications which are pending or put on hold so that they can take the required necessary action from their end.

 

SIGNIFICANCE:

 

• This portal will help a lot of people from the community to come forward and get Transgender Certificate and Identity Cards .

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 came into effect on 10^th January 2020 . 

• It was is the first concrete step towards ensuring welfare of Transgender persons.

It will be strengthened further in the coming days to act as a single point for the community to avail various welfare measures and benefits.

Facts for Prelims:

Abhayam App

Andhra Pradesh government has launched “Abhayam” mobile phone application which helps women and children travelling in taxis and autorickshaws to raise an alarm in case of any emergency.

• To be operated by the Transport Department, the Abhayam app would help the women in alerting the police by pressing a panic button in the event of their landing in trouble.