HOMEWARD BOUND

EVALUATION OF RIGHT TO SHELTER OF TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ‘GARIMA GREH'

Abstract

For transgender community in India, the attachment to one's "home" has often been effaced. Stigma, exclusion from families, and barriers in education and employment have forced many into cycles of homelessness and precarity. Although landmark steps, such as NALSA v. Union of India (2014) and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, have recognised their rights in law, the lived reality still reflects a constant struggle for safety, dignity, and belonging. Shelter, therefore, is not just about a roof—it is about affirming identity, offering security, and opening pathways to a dignified life. This study focuses on Garima Greh, the government's flagship scheme designed to provide safe housing and support for transgender individuals. While the initiative embodies a welcome shift in state responsibility, its promise is diluted by bureaucratic delays, limited capacity, the restrictive one-year stay rule, and reports of discrimination even within the very spaces meant to heal. The paper argues that for shelter to be meaningful, it must go beyond temporary arrangements and instead nurture long-term empowerment. Strengthened funding, transparent oversight, and policies sensitive to the intersectional realities of transgender lives are essential. Ultimately, the right to shelter must be realised not as charity or token recognition, but as a guarantee of dignity, security, and the chance to truly feel "at home."