Bihar transgender community seeks to dedicate temple to Modi

The transgender community in Bihar on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) sought to dedicate a temple to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving the community “respect and rights”. The Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board also approved the proposal to construct the temple at its maiden meeting on the day.s

The Board functions under the State government’s Social Welfare Department. “Since the transgender community in Bihar does not have a temple of its own, I proposed to build a temple for Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he gave us respect and rights and the proposal got the support of all members of the Board and it was approved today,” said Board member Ranjan Singh. The Bihar government had constituted the Board in August 2025 to protect “rights of the transgender community and take measures for its social development and empowerment”.

According to the 2011 census, Bihar has a transgender population of 40, 827. But, the State government’s caste survey, conducted in 2022, put their figure at only 825 (about 0.0006% of the State’s total population of over 13.7 crore). The community strongly disputed the figure, arguing many of its members remained “uncounted and unregistered”. However, according to community sources, the State’s unenumerated transgender population is about three lakh.

Earlier, the State government, following legal directives, had begun recruiting transgender candidates into the police force. Some members of the community also made headlines a few years ago after joining the State police as sub-inspectors.

“Today’s (Wednesday) meeting marked the first meeting of the Bihar State Transgender Welfare Board following the enactment of the Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Act, 2019, which provides the community with institutional representation in the State secretariat”, Mr. Singh said.

In the 2025 Assembly Elections, Priti Kinnar, 41, a member of the community, contested from the Bhore constituency in Gopalganj district on a ticket from Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party (JSP). However, she lost the poll.

Another member of the community, Reshma Prasad, and her organisation, Dostana Safar, opened Bihar’s first transgender-run restaurant, Satrangi Dostana Restro, in Patna in July 2023.

“The situation of transgender community members in a State like Bihar is not good at all. They need support from both the government and the public for their welfare and empowerment,” said a member of the community, requesting anonymity.