Documentary on healthcare woes of transgenders

Experiences of transgender activists and sexual rights groups will now feature in a documentary on healthcare woes of the community in West Bengal.

Filmed by volunteers of a non-profit organisation, the project is based on research on healthcare violations faced by the community in the state.

"There are violations and the documentary aims to narrate the core issues linked to basic healthcare. For example, one aspect is how transgender members are treated by physicians when they go for a health check-up," Suchandra Ganguly, a member of the Civilian Welfare Foundation, told IANS.

Shooting began last week and the team will travel to various pockets in the state where right groups were working on these problems, Ganguly said.

She said it will reflect the pan-Indian scenario as well.

It will also explore whether they were treated as equals, a year after the Supreme Court's landmark judgment recognising transgenders as the third gender.

The court had directed the government to extend them reservations in the backward classes category in jobs and education and provide them healthcare. It also held that they enjoyed all rights under the Constitution.