A eunuch is a person whose gender identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female roles and has a dysfunctional male or female reproductive system. They are thrown out of their own homes by their parents who cannot bear the taunts of relatives and friends. They are a deprived class, yet shunned by everyone.

Eunuchs were in charge of harems, a lucrative and prestigious job, until the advent of the British 200 years ago. To add insult to injury, they were included in 1897 in the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871. This entailed a compulsory daily attendance at the local police station, as well as obtaining police permission if they ever wanted to travel out of town. Even our late PM, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru expressed his shame at this Act, which was repealed in 1952, without making much of a dent in the wretched conditions of this miserable lot.

When we took up the matter of issuance of voter identity cards, bonded labour, voluntary castration, population census data and several other issues – we were surprised to find that the matter of eunuchs has never been officially marked by the President of India under 1st Schedule to the Govt. of India (Allocation of Business Rules), 1961 to any ministry. Therefore during the 65 years of existence of our nation, no action of any sort has been taken by any ministry for eunuchs.

Eunuchs are resigned to their fate and take this in their stride. What is much harder to bear is the attitude of loathing and disgust of their fellow males/females, for no fault of theirs.

It is high time that some ministry made responsible for addressing their horrendous problems. Since issues pertaining to eunuchs are varied and are often related to disparate ministries, e.g. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Child Welfare, Women’s Empowerment, Health, Labour etc., a parliamentary sub-committee may be necessary in order to treat all issues in a common forum.

Our organisation, Salvation Of Oppressed Eunuchs, through its PIL no. 01/2012 in the Bombay High Court, has petitioned for the provision of some much needed succour for this hapless community. The Hon’ble Court, vide order dtd. 13.04.12 has permitted us to approach the concerned authority, pending the disposal of the case, to look into the matter and redress the grievances of eunuchs.

Some of our key achievements are:

  • Documented the plight of the Eunuch community in a 55 minutes video "...Aur Neha Nahi Bik Payee"
  • Published a detailed book on the lifestyle of the Eunuch Community, "Life of a Eunuch"
  • Flied a PIL 01/2012 for Eunuchs rights High Court
  • Subject of eunuchs allocated to MoSJE Cabinet Secretariat
  • In RTI census organization replied that Eunuch data is not available Registrar General Census
  • Rules framed for enrolment of eunuchs in the voters list Election Commission
  • Health Ministry invites Dr Saxena for meeting Health Ministry
  • Expert Committee for TGs was formed Expert Committee TG
  • Meeting of Social Justice ministry invites for a discussion about leti system Leti Meeting Invite
  • Notice issued for abolition of leti (bonded labour) Leti Notification
  • Standing Panel of Doctors formed at 3 hospitals for Gender Reassignment Surgery (GRS) Standing Panel TGs
  • All prayers met. Dr Saxena withdraws the PIL PIL withdrawn
  • Received Google AdGrant worth10,000 USD per month for website www.sooe.org.in Google AdGrant
  • 'Chelas' have the right to leave their 'Guru' without paying a huge sum of money. Leti Notification
  • Influential opinion on “Transgender persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019" passed in Parliament.
  • Opening of Bank accounts and other formalities
  • Issuance of Passport / Adhaar card etc with "Other/Third gender" in sex category