Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has decided that the state government will pay for the sex-change or genital reconstruction surgery, done by transgender persons in the private hospitals. An amount of Rs 2 lakh will be reimbursed as hospital expenses for each transgender person undergoing sex change. In fact, those who have already undergone the surgery can also apply for the assistance.
“The state government which ensured education and job opportunities to transgender community will bear the cost of the gender reassignment surgery of persons belonging to transgender community,” said CM Pinarayi.
The amount will be disbursed through the social justice department. The money will be paid directly to private hospitals in the state that conduct the surgery. If transpersons get the surgery done outside the state, the money will be reimbursed on the submission of the bills.
A sex change operation normally costs between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, the female-to-man operation is more complicated procedure, and therefore, costlier. However, 99 per cent of the sex-change operations are male-to-female.
Earlier, Kerala government had launched a self-employment scheme for transgenders. It’s higher education department issued an order to ensure two seats for TG community members for graduate course in government and aided colleges. Kochi Metro has also employed TG community members in various roles.
