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         Nirbhaya Aanandi Jivan Institute Pune is a transgender NGO ran by transgender activist Ms. Chandni Gore. She used to consult with me about her plan towards opening transgender welfare NGO. In the year 2014 Chandni opened her NGO. I have hence worked with Chandni for some time. Some of the things she is working on are;

• Transgender community self-help group and women’s and children’s welfare.
• UN mechanisms training for LGBT community in Maharashtra
• Awareness of Human/legal rights various laws in India about the Hijra.
• Advocating for government monthly pension, like in other states in India e.g. Tamil Nadu state.
• Hosting of Hijra NGO/Self-help website.
• Scholarships and seats for jobs for transgender students.
• Subsidy in loans and special bank accounts.
• campaigns for children adoption, same-sex partner marriage legalization, and their provision in the law among the transgender community.
• Follow up for the government schemes and benefits allocated to the transgender community.

Through these consultation sessions, she has been able to help needy children, transgender communities, and women around Pune. For quite a while she has been working with adults on matters concerning sexual assault, rape, women’s safety, etc. In recent months she has been working towards having a similar session for the children.

This week, since it is the Christmas season, we finally had a chance to organize a session with children. On 24th December 2018, we discussed “The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act” 2012 (POCSO). It was a great initiative by Nirbhaya Aanandi Jivan Institute. I hope to see such more events around the city. It will be good for children since it will help to reduce cases of sexual assault and provide sexual education at a tender age.