PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-i-Islami finance minister may have mentioned vocational and rehabilitation training for transgender people for the first time in the history of the province but the White Paper 2016-17 doesn`t even mention them and brackets them with `vulnerable groups`.

Muzaffar Said while presenting the Budget 2016-2017 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly announced that the government would provide transgender people with vocational and rehabilitation trainings, usually imparted by the centres run by the social welfare department.

However, transgender people andcivil society activists are skeptical about the effectiveness of such trainings as they say instead of coming up with a scheme specially designed for transgender people in view of their capacity and needs, vocational training in traditional crafts will be of no use.

`We reject these typical trainings and rehabilitation services provided by the social welfare department as we know they are not of much use to transgender people. They have not brought any change in the lives of other vulnerable groups, too,` said the Transaction Alliance worl(ing for the rights of the transgender people in the province.

`Transgender people would never learn anything at such centres. We need to have facilities run by transgender people for the transgender people since only we know our needs and talents,` Transaction Alliance president Farzana told Dawn.

She said instead of specifically mentioning the word `transgender`, theyhad been termed as `vulnerable groups` by the government.

`The government should allocate finds for special schemes for us,` she demanded.

The White Paper promises the capacity building of the vulnerable groups by `imparting skills to make them contributory members of the society while earning livelihood for themselves.

Qamar Naseem, a rights activist, said they were informed by the social welfare department officials that they could not use the word `transgender` or Khwaja Sara in the White Paper and have termed transgender as `vulnerable group` He opposed typical trainings for the transgender people and demanded that government fulfil its promise of setting up an endowment fund for the transgender people in the province.

Farzana said earlier, the alliance was promised by adviser to the CM Mushtaq Ghani that an endowment fund would be set up with Rs200 mil-lion for the welfare of transgender people having their representatives as its members.

`We want what adviser Mushtaq Ghani promised us. We know what is good for the welfare of the transgender people and what is useless,` said Farzana who said transgender people need education, health and other skills to live life like any other citizen.

The finance minister announced vocational and rehabilitation trainings for the transgender people for the first time in the history of the province something was announced for the transgender people.

However, the Transaction Alliance says the transgender people have been deprived of rights for long.

`They want an endowment fund as promised by CM adviser Mushtaq Ghani for the welfare of the transgender population of the province.

The White Paper, 2016-17, which envisions to develop anintegrated and comprehensive social protection system for general population of KPKespecially women, deprived, poor and the most vulnerable segments of the society for the first time is going to include transgender people, as finance minister announced.

The government is going to provide capacity building trainings to the most vulnerable groups including women and children and destitute senior age group citizens, build safety nets through service chain for the welfare of the poorest and social Welfare and Women Empowerment sector.

The focus would be laid upon providing social cushion to the deprived and marginalized segments of society, especially women.

In the proposed development plan, the department included schemes for the wellbeing and safeguarding of destitute women, orphans, beggars, drug addicts and special persons. An allocation of Rs460 million has been made for total of 27 projects out of which 18 are ongoing with allocation of Rs266 million and nine are new with allocation of Rs194 million.The upcoming projects include upgradation of National Special Education Centre Mardan upto Middle level, establishment of Model Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in Peshawar, upgradationofBlindSchoolCharsadda from Primary to Middle, construction of Social Welfare Complex at Nowshera, construction of Special Education Complex Chakdara Dir Lower, purchase of Land for Upgradation of School for Deaf and Dumb Children at Timergara, Lower Dir.

According to the Transaction Alliance, there are around 45, 000 transgender people in the province but they remain invisible and socially are an outcast.

The Budget 2016-2017 speech may have mentioned such people for the first time in the history of the province but the alliance says that much more is needed to provide them with skills needed according to their environment and talents.