Shashi Tharoor questions delay in LGBTQIA+ Panel’s work

New Delhi: The Centre’s High-Powered Committee constituted to examine issues concerning same-sex couples has met only twice since its formation more than two years ago and is yet to submit any recommendation or report, according to the government’s written reply to an unstarred question raised by Congress MP, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, in the Lok Sabha.

The reply, received by Tharoor on Tuesday, states that the committee was constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Supriyo case.

It also says that the panel’s last meeting was held more than two years ago.

Reacting to the reply in a social media post, Tharoor said on Wednesday, “The Government’s reply to my question lays bare the utter failure of the High-Powered Committee constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court’s Supriyo judgment and more importantly, the Government’s complete lack of political will to address the concerns of same-sex couples and secure meaningful rights for our fellow citizens in the LGBTQIA+ community. More than two years after its constitution, the Committee has met only twice. Its last meeting took place over two years ago and it has yet to produce a single recommendation or report.”

“The interim measures cited by the Government cannot substitute for meaningful legal reform. Advisories do not create rights. They do not guarantee equal access to housing, employment, healthcare, inheritance, joint financial benefits, next-of-kin recognition, medical decision-making or public services. If the Government believes these questions should await the Committee’s recommendations, it owes the community an explanation for why the Committee itself has remained virtually inactive for over two years,” he said.

“One is compelled to ask: Was the Committee constituted merely to satisfy the Court, with no genuine intention of carrying its mandate forward? The Government’s own reply, regrettably, points in that direction,” asks Tharoor.

Congress MP Tharoor, a senior member of the Lok Sabha has been representing the state capital city constituency uninterrupted starting from 2009 and was a Union Minister too in the Dr Manmohan Singh Cabinet.

IANS