Akkai Padmashali’s organisation ‘Ondede’ has joined hands with the Election Commission (EC) in conducting awareness programs for the transgender community. She says, “There are more than one lakh transgenders in the state and in this elections, more than 10,000 of them would be participating. We hope that this number increases in the coming years.” Karnataka also offers a pension scheme for trans individuals from the ages 18 to 64.