Proposal for gender affirmative surgery at govt. facilities gathers dust

‘Private hospitals charging exorbitantly for the procedure’

Even as the LGBTQ community is up in arms over the death of a transwoman here allegedly owing to complications post-gender affirmative surgery, commonly known as sex reassignment surgery (SRS), a proposal to conduct such procedures at government medical colleges continues to gather dust. The Social Justice Department had in 2018 submitted a ₹3.50-crore proposal to the government suggesting equipping the Kottayam Medical College Hospital to hold SRS on a pilot basis and then expand it gradually to all government medical colleges. It would have freed the community from the clutches of private hospitals, which alone now conduct such surgeries. “Though the department has increased SRS assistance from a uniform rate of ₹2 lakh in 2018 when it was started to ₹5 lakh for transmen and ₹2.50 lakh for transwomen from last year, it did not help the community much as private hospitals increased the rate proportionately,” said department sources. This was in addition to ₹3,000 a month for a year for post-surgery convalescence.