The Gramin Greh initiative, launched as a pilot in 2020 across 10 cities by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has since expanded to 15 cities. For Simran, the turning point came in 2023, when she received her transgender identity (TGID) card, a government issued document recognising her gender identity.
“It gave me a fresh sense of identity,” she says. “I could access NGO and corporate funding. Even getting a home loan became easier.”
But such stories remain an exception.
The National Portal for Transgender Persons, launched in 2020 after the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act of 2019, enabled registration for TGID card – a prerequisite for accessing government schemes such as Garima Greh shelters, scholarships, and health insurance.
Yet, uptake has been limited. Data on the portal shows that as of 5 pm on March 31, 37,360 applications had been filed, and 32,630 TGID cards issued. That’s 6.8 per cent TGID cards issued, given India’s transgender population of over 480,000, according to the 2011 Census.
Applicants, activists, and NGOs point to multiple barriers: Funding gaps, bureaucratic delays, low awareness, for instance.
Concerns have deepened with the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, which received the President’s assent late Monday. The amendments remove the self-identification-based definition recognised by the Supreme Court in 2014, and introduce a narrower definition that includes socio-cultural identities, intersex persons, and those forced into transgender identities.
“There’s no exact figure, but this definition could make at least 40 per cent of transgender persons ineligible for TGID card,” says Kalki Subramaniam, former South India representative for the National Council for Transgender Persons, who resigned on March 25 in protest.
Uncertainty also surrounds those who already hold TGID cards. “The amendments hint at retrospective application, which is legally unlikely,” says Aqsa Shaikh, professor of community medicine at Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, and a transgender rights activist. “This was flagged in Parliament.”
In 2022, following the portal’s launch and the Garima Greh pilot, the government launched the Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons. It promised scholarships from Class IX to postgraduate levels, skill development, health insurance, and more Garima Greh shelters.
Budget documents, however, show a stark gap between the expenditure estimates and the actual spending on transgender welfare schemes. While nearly Rs 250 crore has been allocated since the beginning of the comprehensive scheme in FY22, spending stands at around Rs 13 crore.
“Only a handful of Garima Grehs have received government funding,” says Subramanium. Several components of the scheme, she adds, remain unimplemented. “Even the scholarship section on the portal is non-functional,” she says, adding that other planned measures, such as state-level transgender protection cells, are yet to come up in many regions.
Aastha, a Delhi High Court lawyer working with the community (who goes by only the first name), says the impact of most schemes, including health insurance, has been minimal: “It’s not as though people aren’t applying. The applications remain pending for months, with no updates. The portal itself is inaccessible for days.”
Officially, TGID cards must be issued within one month of the application. Vihaan Vee, a Bengaluru-based researcher and queer activist, says it took him six months to get his card.
“First, the district magistrates take days to sign the application. Then, it can get rejected multiple times, and you won’t even understand why,” he says. “They ask for ID proofs in Section 6 and 7, and address proofs under Section 7 (for TG certificates). Since many transgender people have fled from their homes, arranging all documents is a challenge.”
Subramanium adds there have been no sustained government campaigns to encourage registrations. Besides, the community, she says, is largely digitally ignorant.
Even among officials, sensitisation is uneven. Aastha says some district magistrates demand surgery certificates to clear TGID applications, though these aren’t required. Accessing healthcare benefits under the Transgender Ayushman Bharat card, Aastha adds, is similarly challenging because even when insurance is approved, the hospital staff are often unaware of the scheme.
With the Bill approved, there is heightened uncertainty. Vee, who holds both a TG card and certificate, says he doesn’t feature in its 2026 definition. He’s unsure how the medical board – proposed under the amendments – will establish his identity, or how transparent the process would be.
Under the amendment, any surgery has to be reported to the district magistrate. “There are layers of surveillance,” says Aastha. “This would discourage people from coming out and accepting their identity.”
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