Delhi To See Special Drive To Include Transgenders, Sex Workers In Voter List

The office of Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer has initiated the process to set up special camps to enrol transgender persons, sex workers and vulnerable women in the voters' list, officials said on Saturday.

With Lok Sabha polls scheduled next year, the CEO office recently recommended to district electoral officers to organise these special camps for including homeless women and sex workers in the voters' list, they said.

Currently, transgender voters are referred to as "Third Gender" in the electoral roll, which is not in consonance with the Transgender Persons (Protection Right) Act, 2019. So, in tune with the Act, they may be referred to as "Transgender", the communication stated.

To promote inclusiveness in the electoral process, the district election officers have also been recommended to start a process for mapping transgender persons in the city to identify and enrol those left out in the electoral rolls, said a senior officer.

It has also been recommended that transgender persons need to be included in the electoral process through outreach activities and creating awareness to encourage them to participate in the elections.

The transgender population in the city, according to Census 2011, was 4,213, said officials, adding that only a little over 1,100 were enrolled as voters. The officials said there was no estimate of their actual population in the city at present.

These recommendations were made after the first meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Inclusive Election (NACIE) held in June this year, they said.

The officials said that the barriers to the participation of sex workers in the elections are factors such as no address proof, rejection of forms by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) due to mobility of sex workers and their inability to come out of their surroundings and vote among others.

The district election officers have been asked to hold camps for enrolment in the areas having a presence of sex workers. 

Efforts will also be made by the election office to ensure the participation of sex workers, women in difficult circumstances and those living in shelter homes or nari niketan. and the homeless in the elections, they said.

The district electoral officers have been asked to hold camps for their enrolment and take help of the NGOs to ensure their electoral participation through a multipronged strategy, they added. 

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