National Council for Transgender Persons

What is the National Council for Transgender Persons?

• The National Council for Transgender Persons (NCTP) is a statutory body constituted under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 (No. 40 of 2019), to safeguard the rights of transgender persons in India. Following the act, the NCTP was constituted initially on 21st August 2020, with ex-officio as well as nine nominated members. Later, it was reconstituted through the notification dated 16th November 2023, consisting of fresh names of nominated representatives and experts.
• The NCTP is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and making recommendations to the government on measures to promote and protect the rights of transgender persons.
• It aims to focus on livelihood issues as well as to raise awareness about the trans community for achieving the goal of social justice so that transpersons are accepted within families and in the larger society.

Legal Provision Relating to the Term

Evolution of National Council for Transgender Persons

The government set up an expert committee in 2013 for studying the problems of transgenders and recommending solutions. In the NALSA v. Union of India (2014), the Supreme Court of India provided legal recognition to transgender persons, granting the right to self-determination to all individuals as male, female, or trans. Further, the Court upheld that the fundamental rights granted under the Constitution of India will be equally applicable to transgender people.

In 2014, a private member bill titled The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 (Bill No. XLIXC-C of 2014), was presented and passed by the Rajya Sabha. In reference to the NCTP, the bill framed it to be commission similar to the Human Rights Commission, with state and national bodies, and similar functions and powers However, this Bill was never presented to the Lok Sabha and lapsed. Further, the Government introduced the public bill titled the Transgender Perons (Protection of Rights) Bill (Bill no 210 of 2016) in the Lok Sabha in 2016, and it was referred to a Standing Committee. Finally, the Parliament based upon inputs from the standing committee passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. Later in 2020, the Government established the NCTP under the Transgender Persons Act, 2019. Further the Transgender Persons Rules, 2020, under rule 14 provided that the National Institute of Social Defence shall give secretarial assistance to the NCTP for its functioning.

Composition

As per section 16 of the Transgender Persons Act, 2019, the NCTP consists of a chairperson who will be the Union Minister in charge of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The vice-chairperson shall be the Minister of State in charge of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the Government. The member secretary shall be the Joint Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment dealing with the welfare of the transgender persons. The NCTP will further include 18 other members. These would be considered ex-officio members, which means that they will hold these positions as members permanently until they are holding the respective posts/positions mentioned below. These are:

• The Secretary to the Government of India in-charge of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• One representative each from the 10 central departments and ministries mentioned below:
  • Health and Family Welfare
  • Home Affairs
  • Housing and Urban Affairs
  • Minority Affairs
  • Education
  • Rural Development
  • Labour and Employment
  • Department of Legal Affairs
  • Department of Pensions and Pensioners Welfare
  • National Institute for Transforming India Aayog

• One representative each (not below the rank of Joint Secretaries to the Government of India) from:
  • The National Human Rights Commission
  • The National Commission for Women
• Representatives of the state or UT governments (one each from the North, South, East, West and North-East regions). As of December 2025, these are representatives from:
  • The state of Uttar Pradesh representing the North region
  • The state of Tamil Nadu representing the South region
  • The state of Bihar representing the East region
  • The state of Maharashtra representing the Western region
  • The state of Manipur representing the North-East region

In addition to these, the NCTP will have 10 nominated members, who will hold their position for three years from the date of their nomination. These will be:

• Five representatives of the transgender community from five states or Union Territories (one each from the north, south, east, west and northeast regions), on a rotational basis. As of December 2025, they are:
  • Shraddha A. Joshi, representing the West region
  • Shobha Thakur, representing the North region
  • Vidya, representing the East region
  • Kalki Subramaniam, representing the South region, and
  • Rituparna Neog, representing the North-East region
• Five expert members, who are working for the rights of the community, representing NGOs or associations working in the field. As of December 2025, they are:
  • Abhina Aher
  • Ravina Bariha
  • Sadhana Mishra
  • Dr. Aparna Lalingkar
  • Giti Thadani

The present NCTP will continue till November 2026, following which it will be reconstituted with new nominated members.

Functions

As per section 17 of the Transgender Persons Act, the following are the functions of the NCTP:

• Monitoring and Evaluative Function: The NCTP works to monitor and evaluate the impact of policies and programmes designed for achieving equality and full participation of transgender persons.
• Advisory Function: It advises the Central government on the formulation of policies, programmes, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons.
• Grievance Redressal: It aims to work towards redressing grievances of transgender persons.
• Review and Coordination: It undertakes reviewing and coordinating the activities of all the departments and NGOs dealing with transgender rights to ensure streamlining of activities.
• Other Functions: Performing such other functions as prescribed by the Central Government.

Government Reports

Rajya Sabha Debates

The following suggestions/comments were made during the Rajya Sabha debates regarding the NCTP (in reference to the Transgender Persons Bill), along with the member who provided the same:

• Sasmit Patra:: Highlighted the need for State and District level Councils for Transgender Persons, apart from merely a National Council, which would be hard to approach for trans people from marginalised socio-economic backgrounds.

• Tiruchi Siva: Ex-officio members of the NCTP, including the minister of social justice, are already overburdened by their own official duties. The council should thus be reframed as a statutory body similar to the National Commission for Women or the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Commission, with explicit powers provided.
• Satish Chandra Misra: Similarly provided that it will be hard for the 30 member body to sit together and make decisions, especially when most of them are top-level officials. While the act creates the NCTP as the main agency, it forgoes refering to any obligation regading their meetings. [Here, the government claimed that provison for regular meetings shall be made available as part of the Transgender Persons Rules, but that same has yet to be added].

Lok Sabha Debates

During the Lok Sabha Debate, the following members presented their suggestions/comments:

• Dr. Shashi Tharoor: The composition of the NCTP does not represent diverse groups within the trans community. Further, being only advisory the council would be unable to redress any grievances forwarded to it. Lastly, that based upon the principle of the State and National Human Rights Commission, there shall also be state level council under the NCTP.

Challenges

Some of the challenges that have been identified with the workings of the NCTP include:

• Certificate of identification: The NCTP has no power regarding the procedure of issuance of a certificate of identification.
• Reservation: The Transgender Persons Act, 2019, does not provide reservations to transgender persons. NCTP can only advise the government to grant the reservation to the transgender community.
• Lack of representation: The NCTP is not representative of the diverse transgender community in India. The council primarily comprises government officials, and only five transgender people are part of the council.
• Limited powers: The NCTP has limited powers to implement policies and programs for the welfare of transgender people. It can only make recommendations to the government, which may or may not be implemented.
• Social stigma: Despite the legal recognition of transgender people in India, social stigma and discrimination against them remain prevalent. This can limit the effectiveness of the NCTP in empowering transgender people.

Further, one of the biggest challange regarding the working of the NCTP is regarding its transparency and accountability. The Citizen Charter of the National Portal of Transgender Persons declared that documents for each meeting of the NCTP shall be be made available "immediately". Yet, no such document is made available to the public. Yet, the main source of information regarding the working of the NCTP remains limited to merely a handful of press releases with varied level of details, as well as the occational social media posts by the members of the council.

Way Forward

The NCTP formulated in 2020 by the central government, consisting of only 9 nominated representatives (the law mandated 10), was criticised on various grounds, including controversy regarding the nominated members, the exclusion of certain regions, and the lack of proper coordination, among others. Following this, even when the council was reconstituted after three years, its new members have still remained controversial figures within the trans community.

Apart from policies and regulations, there is also a need for an inclusive approach, sensitizing legal and law enforcement systems in particular towards the issues of transgender community.The establishment of the National Council for Transgender Persons which seeks to increase awareness and inculcate a sense of respect and acceptance for transgender community, is a welcome step. However, it's up to the effective functioning of the council whether it will be able to identify the issues faced by the transgender community and accordingly advise the government.