After NGOs and government agencies, now members of the transgender community have also come out to help the needy during the COVID-19 lockdown at Ulhasnagar town of Maharashtra's Thane district.

Transgenders have been feeding the needy, many of whom have lost their livelihoods ever since the lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus in the state, an activist said.

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At Ulhasnagar's Camp no. 4, transgenders have been providing free meals to the poor in the area twice a day, he said.

The initiative was managed by a local NGO along with transgenders and several other volunteers, he added.

The move has garnered appreciation from locals and the authorities alike, as transgenders are themselves a marginalised community and are often discriminated against in their everyday life, the activist said.