Centre offers special health schemes for the transgenders

The 'Support For Marginalized Individuals For Livelihood And Enterprise' (SMILE) is an initiative under the Ayushman Bharat which will now be a ray of hope for many transgenders. Under this flagship program, people will get full financial coverage for their sex-change surgery.

This initiative will be rolled out by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on October 12. This scheme has two sub-schemes--Central Sector Scheme for Comparative Rehabilitation and Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation Person engaged in the act of begging.

It is also a part of the National Health Authority's revised packages. Under this package, there are concessions in the rates of various medical tests and facilities for trans people.

Prior to this, it was in the year 2019, when the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital stood up as the first hospital in the entire nation to have a full-fledged multi-super specialty clinic for transgenders.

It was a few years ago when the Guwahati High Court directed the Assam Government to establish a separate wing for the people from the transgender community. Transgender rights activist and Assam's first transgender judge, Swati Bidhan Barua have always been at the forefront to make these schemes available to every person in that community.