Minister of State, Social Justice & Empowerment Shri A. Narayanaswamy has informed that The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched an umbrella scheme “SMILE – Support for Marginalized Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise” on 12.02.2022, which includes two sub-schemes – ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for Welfare of Transgender Persons’ and ‘Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging’.
This SMILE scheme covers several comprehensive measures including welfare measures for both transgender persons and persons who are engaged in the act of begging with focus extensively on rehabilitation, provision of medical facilities, counseling, education, skill development, economic linkages etc with the support of State Governments/UTs/Local Urban Bodies, Voluntary Organizations, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and institutions and others.