Good New Delhites, Delhi bus services are more inclusive.

As announced by the Delhi government on Monday the bus service for transgender persons will be free in the city — along the lines of that for women.

Mentioning that a proposal will soon be passed in the Cabinet to implement the scheme, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, 'Just like women receive free tickets while traveling in buses, the transgender community will also be granted free tickets. Our government announced free bus travel for women in October 2019, and since then, approximately 147 crore free tickets have been provided.'

The benefit will be provided on the basis of the certificate issued by the government, said transport minister Kailash Gehlot. Certificates recognising an individual as a transgender persons are issued by district magistrate offices.

'Transgender individuals will avail of free bus services based on data received from the Social Welfare Department. Discussions are underway with the Social Welfare Department to consider consolidating the entire data of transgender individuals for the Transport Department. This initiative is expected to benefit thousands of transgender individuals in Delhi,' said Gehlot.

According to the 2011 Census, the population of transgender persons in India is 4.87 lakh. The percentage of population in Delhi is 0.86%, as reported by IndianExpress.

'The transgender community has been neglected by everyone to date. In the history of 75 years since Independence, no other government has done anything for the transgender community. They have been perceived with great disregard,' said Kejriwal. The government said that the decision was taken because at present, there is no acknowledgement of individuals within the third gender community on bus passes, leading to a lack of representation.

Members of the community are compelled to choose between male and female genders when using bus passes, causing distress and discomfort as their true identity is not recognized, the government said in a statement. It also said that transgender persons are routinely 'berated by conductors, especially when individuals from the community choose the female gender'.