Thursday, 08 June 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand State Commission for Women (USCW) is all set to initiate a programme aimed at stopping discrimination against the eunuchs. Citing the Supreme Court ruling, the USCW chairperson Kusum Kandawal said that they as the third gender are entitled to the same rights as everyone else.
Echoing Kandawal’s view on the matter, the eunuch leader and social worker Rajni Rawat said that their rights have remained unrecognised and ignored. “The society on the whole is still hostile to us,” she said. Rawat lauded the initiative to be taken for them by USCW. “We are part and parcel of the society. A time has come when the people must shed hostility towards us,” she said.
She further said that it is an undeniable fact that some eunuchs are enjoying high positions in society. “And yet, we are being discriminated against. This is sad and this collective mindset must change,” she said, adding that the government is, however, treading the right path as far as eunuch rights are concerned.
Talking to The Pioneer, Kandawal said, “The commission has been thinking for some time to do something to end the suppression of their rights in the society. We have already talked to the officials concerned on this matter. The details will be chalked out soon.”
Stressing that paying mere lip- service to the cause of the eunuchs is not enough, the vice chairperson of USCW Jyoti Shah said that all must recognise that they play a vital role in the society. “We must come out of the primeval attitude towards them and should help the landmark Supreme Court ruling on them be implemented on the ground,” she said, adding that USCW is interacting with some prominent people to firm up the programme they are going to launch in support of the eunuch rights.
