Life Cover For Lives In The Lurch

Insurance regulator has issued a diktat for life insurance policies to cover transgenders but insurers see very few takers and buyers find the products too costly, too complex

- Nirmala Konjengbam

“Chitrangada is the name of a desire… It is not important how we lead our lives. It is much more important how we wish to lead our lives.”

That was filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, one of the finest intellectuals of this genre who, through his films, gave the voice to a community grossly side-lined and secluded. But, there is a change. And, the change is taking place faster than ever before, for those who breach the gender divide and live the way they’re not brought up to be. The change is to bring them at par with everyone else. The change is to ensure equality among the people of this country. The change is to redefine an India of plurality. We’re talking of transgenders.

When most things are being restructured and recast to even out the divide, there is a renewed emphasis from the government to extend all benefits of the society to those who have been left out for ages. One such is insurance, which has been largely out of bounds for the third gender.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has recently issued a set of guidelines for the ‘Saral Pension Yojana’ and urged insurers to include transgenders in their cover options. “All types of lives shall be covered, including male, female and transgenders,” says a directive from the sector watchdog. But the insurers are at a fix with too few takers.

Some people from the community surpass the mere boundaries of gender inequality with their sheer brilliance. But most of the over five lakh Indians who had identified themselves as transgenders way back in 2011 rarely participate in our everyday lives and our encounters are confined to public transports and traffic signals.