The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill puts the "third gender" at par with weaker communities like SC/STs and OBCs to end discrimination against them.

New Delhi: Transgenders will soon be categorised as "third gender" and be eligible for welfare benefits including reservations in jobs and education. They would also be able to choose their gender after undergoing sex-change surgery.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill puts the "third gender" at par with weaker communities like SC/STs and OBCs to end discrimination against them.

The Union cabinet approved the legislation piloted by social justice and empowerment minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot on Wednesday, paving the way for its introduction in the ongoing session of Parliament. Rajya Sabha passed a private member bill in April 2015, prompting assurance from minister Gehlot that the Centre would bring an official legislation.

The proposal was stuck for a year because approval of the bill in the form passed by the Upper House would have led to decriminalisation of homosexuality, which goes against the stand of the BJP regime.

The apprehension stemmed from the fact that LGBT grouping in popular discourse clubs transgenders with homosexuals, as also some other provisions. But a recent Supreme Court ruling clarifying that homosexuals are not transgenders helped seal the proposal, a senior source said.

However, the Centre is banking on a debate in Parliament for clarity on a few tricky issues. While the Supreme Court ruling said that transgenders would be able to choose their gender, officialdom is not clear how would it be possible for the "third gender"

The Centre has also kept open the provision to put transgenders in the OBC category.

