New Delhi:
A high-powered government committee set up to examine the rights and entitlements affecting queer couples has met only twice in more than two years, the Centre told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Cabinet Secretary-led panel has not submitted its report. The government has also given no expected date for its completion.
The committee met on May 21 and August 22, 2024, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment BL Verma said in a written reply to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
The August 4, 2026, response lists no subsequent meeting of the full committee, meaning its last recorded meeting was nearly two years ago.
Tharoor had sought details of the panel’s mandate and status, the number of meetings held, the reasons for the delay and the expected timeline for its report.
The Centre said the Supreme Court had not prescribed a specific deadline when it directed that the committee be constituted. The reply did not separately explain the gap since its second meeting or say when the panel would meet next.
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What The Committee Was Set Up To Examine
The panel’s mandate extends beyond the question of legal recognition for same-sex marriages.
It is expected to recommend steps that the Centre and state governments can take to ensure that members of the queer community do not face discrimination while accessing goods and services.
The committee must also examine safeguards against violence, harassment and coercion, as well as measures to prevent queer people from being subjected to involuntary medical treatment or surgery.
Mental healthcare and non-discriminatory access to social-welfare benefits and entitlements are also part of its mandate. The panel can consider any other related matter it deems necessary.
The committee was formally constituted on April 16, 2024, after the Supreme Court’s October 2023 judgment on petitions seeking legal recognition for same-sex marriages.
A five-judge Constitution Bench declined to read same-sex marriage into the Special Marriage Act. The court, however, recorded the government’s assurance that a Cabinet Secretary-led committee would examine the scope of rights and entitlements available to queer couples.
Apart from the Cabinet Secretary as chairperson, the panel includes senior officials from the Home, Women and Child Development, Health, Legislative Affairs and Social Justice departments.
Ration Cards And Joint Bank Accounts
While the report remains pending, the Centre listed several interim measures taken by different departments.
States and Union Territories have been advised that partners in a queer relationship may be treated as members of the same household for ration-card purposes.
They have also been asked to ensure that queer partners do not face discrimination when ration cards are issued.
On banking, the Department of Financial Services has clarified that there is no restriction on members of the queer community opening a joint bank account.
An account holder can also nominate a queer partner to receive the balance in the account after the holder’s death, the parliamentary reply said.
Healthcare, Conversion Therapy And Mental Well-Being
The Health Ministry has asked states, Union Territories and other stakeholders to take measures to protect the healthcare rights of LGBTQIA+ persons.
The steps listed include awareness programmes, prohibition of conversion therapy, availability of what the government document calls “sex reassignment surgery”, changes in medical and educational curricula, teleconsultation services and sensitisation and training of healthcare workers.
The Directorate General of Health Services has separately asked state health departments to improve healthcare access and reduce discrimination against the community.
The ministry has also sought provisions allowing a queer partner to claim the body of a person who has died when a near relative or family member is unavailable.
The government said guidelines have been framed concerning medical interventions involving infants and children with intersex variations. Separate guidelines addressing the mental health and well-being of the queer community are being prepared, but no completion date was given.
Two Meetings, Separate Consultations
At its first meeting in May 2024, the committee discussed ration cards, joint bank accounts, nomination facilities and harassment linked to gender identity or sexual orientation.
A Home Secretary-led subcommittee met separately on May 31, 2024, to discuss welfare benefits, healthcare, public services, police action, prison-visitation rights and protection from violence.
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A stakeholder consultation involving representatives of the LGBTQIA+ community, central ministries and state governments was held on July 25.
The full committee met for a second time on August 22, when it reviewed action taken by ministries and directed them to issue advisories concerning the queer community. The subcommittee meeting and stakeholder consultation were separate from the two meetings of the full panel recorded in the latest parliamentary reply.
For queer couples, the matters before the committee are not merely administrative. They can determine who is recognised as family on a ration card, who can be named as a nominee, who can be present during illness and who can claim a loved one’s body after death.
The Supreme Court’s verdict did not grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage, but the committee provided a route to examine some of these gaps in recognition, protection and access to benefits.
More than two years after it was constituted, and nearly two years after its last recorded meeting, the report remains pending.
