Maharashtra state chief minister Eknath Shinde has directed the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department to look into the demand for separate washrooms for transgendered individuals in government, semi-government, and other public spaces.
According to a report of Indian Express, Shinde gave this direction while responding to the demands made by Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Secretary Roshan Meshram.
Since the last year, Meshram has been raising the issue of the lack of separate toilets and washrooms for transgendered individuals in public spaces. In want of separate toilets and washrooms, such individuals are forced to use either the toilets designated for males or females, he has said.
In his letter to the chief minister, Meshram pointed out that the NALSA judgment of the Supreme Court in 2019, as well as the Maharashtra Protection of Transgender (Rights and Protection) Act, allows for providing security, identity cards, and other civic facilities to transgendered individuals. Right to toilets, Meshram was also an important right to be ensured for such individuals.