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India needs an institutional framework for Pre-legislative Consultations

May 5, 2020

Amid the coronavirus pandemic and countrywide lockdown, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had asked for comments from all stakeholders on the Draft Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules 2020 on April 18, 2020.  Initially, the deadline to submit the comments was April 30, 2020. It meant that only 12 days were given to file the comments  – which violated the  Pre-Legislative Consultative Policy (PLCP hereafter) 2014. A range of civil society activists working in the fields of transgender persons’ rights cried foul and this appeared to have an effect.  On April 30, 2020, the government extended the deadline till May 18th, 2020 which exactly met the PLCP guidelines.