On 13-3-2026, 2 amendment bills were introduced in Lok Sabha aiming to transform the existing law relating to Protection of Rights of Transgender Persons and another one to authorize payments and appropriation of certain further sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the services of the financial year 2025- 2026.
Following are the Bills introduced in Lok Sabha and the purpose:
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Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026:
The proposed provisions operate cumulatively with the general criminal law and give legislative expression to the constitutional guarantees that every person’s bodily integrity is inviolable, that no person may be subjected to forced labor or traffic in human beings.
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The main object of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 was to protect a specified class of persons socially and culturally known as transgender people who face societal discrimination of an extreme and oppressive nature.
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Why is this amendment required:
The existing vague definition of the expression “transgender person” not only makes it impossible to identify the genuine oppressed persons to whom the benefits of the Act are intended to reach but also makes the operation and enforcement of several provisions under penal, civil and personal laws unworkable.
✓ It is therefore imperative to give a precise definition for proper and definitive identification and protection of transgender persons to whom the benefits of the Act must be reached. The protection and benefits that are provided under the Act are vast in nature, and therefore, care has to be taken that such identification cannot be extended because of any acquirable characteristics or personal choice or claimed self-perceived identity of an individual.
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This Bill also seeks to:
✓ Designate an authority;
✓ Provide the relevant authorities the option to seek expert advice if required;
✓ Empower transgender persons to make consequential changes in official documents;
✓ It also provides for a change in the constitution of the National Council ensuring that persons, not below the rank of Director, form a part of the same as representatives of the State Governments and Union territories administration, by rotation, one each from North, South, East, West and North-East regions;
✓ Substitute Section 18 (relating to offences and penalties) of the principal Act, creating specific offences with graded punishments that reflect the gravity of the harm, the irreversibility of the injury, and the particular vulnerability of child victims.
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Appropriation Act, 2026:
The Bill seeks to provide for the appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund of India of the moneys required to meet the supplementary expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and the grants made by the Lok Sabha for expenditure of the Central Government for the financial year 2025-26.