Maharashtra will be the first such State to have Transgender Welfare Board. The Transgender Welfare Board was first conceptualised in 2014 by the previous government.
- Maharashtra government has made a provision of Rs 5 crore for welfare of the transgender community.
- The Minister of State for Social Justice Dilip Kamble announced that the Board will be set up in a month's time.
- It will look after education, employment, housing, and health schemes for transgenders and protect their Constitutional and human rights.
- The issue of setting up such a board for implementing welfare schemes for transgenders and protecting their rights was mentioned in the third women's policy of the state government, accepted by the cabinet in 2013.
- The policy promises various welfare measures for working women in the state.
- State’s Women and Child Welfare Ministry was entrusted with the responsibility of setting up the board which would prepare the broad framework for implementing education, health, and housing policies as well as generating employment opportunities for transgenders.
- Since the Union Social Justice Ministry was responsible for implementing the welfare schemes for transgenders, all work related to setting up of the board and implementing welfare schemes for the community was transferred to the state Social Justice department on October 3, 2017. An amount of Rs 5 crore has been allocated for this purpose.
