Chandigarh: Even as transgenders have been given official recognition as the third gender, only 19 transgenders are registered as voters from the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency.
In Chandigarh, 6,19,619 voters have been registered so far, including 3,28,271 male and 2,91,329 female, while the number of voters in the other category is only 19. The Election Commission of India allowed transgenders to vote under the “other” category in 2009, which was followed by a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that granted them recognition as the third gender. Earlier, transgenders would enlist either as male or female in official documents.
Arjun Sharma, Joint Chief Electoral Officer, said they had been encouraging people, including transgenders, to come forward and get themselves registered as voters. He said they could still get themselves registered as voters.
RK Garg, president of the Second Innings Association, said the department should start a special drive to register them as voters. He said one of the reasons for the low registration was the absence of a special awareness drive. A major section of the transgender community lives in outer areas of the city. Chandigarh is one of the few UTs to have approved a welfare board for transgenders last year.
