First-ever transgender birth certificate issued to Noor Shekhawat in Rajasthan

Noor Shekhawat became the first transgender person in Rajasthan to be issued a birth certificate with the gender recorded as transgender. In her old birth certificate, her gender was marked as male. Shekhawat was handed her new birth certificate by municipal and state government officials. She runs an NGO for the transgender community and also wants to complete her graduation.

Bhanwarlal Bairwa, Director of Economic and Statistics Department and Chief Registrar (Births and Deaths), issued Rajasthan’s first transgender birth certificate to Noor Shekhawat of Jaipur. Bhairwa said along with the birth records of males and females, the birth records of transgender persons will now be available on the corporation’s portal. An awareness programme will also be launched to encourage transgenders to apply for their birth certificates, Bhairwa said.

Shekhawat, who passed Class 12 from an English medium school and runs a voluntary organisation for the transgender community, said this initiative will help the government maintain records of transgender persons along with those of disabled persons, men and women. Shekhawat now plans to urge authorities to provide employment opportunities to the transgender community and reservation in jobs.

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