The trans community may have won their right to vote in 1994, but it wasn’t until 2013 that the government decided to incorporate the ‘third gender’ or ‘others’ option on their voter ID-cards.

A mass bunking protest by the entire community during the 2009 elections forced the Election Commission to meet their demand in the following general election of 2013.

This time, though there was no mass protest, one Puducherry transsexual individual’s relentless battle successfully pushed the Income Tax department to include the third gender option on its official portal (https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.) while filing income tax returns online.

Also, in addition, the third gender will also be exempted from the Union government’s rule of linking their PAN with their Aadhaar while filing their returns.

Sameera, who works at Mahatma Gandhi medical college and research institute in Puducherry, as a consultant in critical care medicine changed her official identity from male to transsexual following all prescribed legal processes. Read more via Better India