On the last day of the last session of the 17th Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seized the opportunity to list out its achievements as well as those of his government. Asserting that a significant amount of work has been done towards helping those who are on the edges of society, the Prime Minister pointed out that the transgender community, which felt disrespected, has been given an identity.
"Those who were always on the edges, whose wellbeing was not a concern to anybody, have now felt the presence of government. When free (vaccination) injections were given during Covid, belief was instilled in people... No one should feel helpless," the Prime Minister said during his address, in Hindi, in the Lok Sabha on Saturday.
"The transgender community always felt disrespected... and people would avoid these issues. Members of the 17th Lok Sabha expressed concern for them and sought to ensure a better life for them. The world discusses what India has done for transgenders... We have given transgenders an identity. As many as 16,000-17,000 from the community have been given identity cards," he added.
PM Modi pointed out that people from the transgender community have taken loans under the Mudra scheme and started businesses. "We have given Padma Awards to transgenders. They have started receiving the benefits of various government schemes that they didn't before. They are now living lives of respect," he said.
In 2019, Bharatnatyam dancer Narthaki Nataraj became the first transgender person to be awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour. The Padma Shri was conferred on transgender folk dancer Manjamma Jogati - the first transgender president of the Karnataka Janapada Academy - in 2021.
In his last speech in Parliament ahead of the general elections, PM Modi said many game-changing reforms were carried out during the five years of the 17th Lok Sabha, which was a period of "reform, perform and transform". He highlighted the abrogation of Article 370 -- a long-standing pledge of the BJP -- in 2019 and the criminalisation of Triple Talaq.
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