The number of hijras in Bangladesh is around 10,000, says State Minister for Social Welfare Promod Mankin.
During the question-answer session on Sunday, the junior minister told the Parliament: “According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Welfare, the number of hijras in the country is 9,892.”
Noting that the government has already recognised the hijras as a separate gender alongside the existing male and female sexes, the state minister further said: “We have taken a number of initiatives with a view to rehabilitating individuals of the gender and offer them new avenues of employment.”
Mankin further said: “Aiming to improve the standard of their education, the government is distributing Tk300, Tk450, Tk600 and Tk1,000 among the hijra students at the primary, secondary, higher secondary and graduate levels respectively on a monthly basis.
“Besides, hijras, who are disabled or are above the age of 50, are getting Tk500 in monthly allowances.”
“The government also spending a good amount of money for bringing them to the mainstream of the national and social activities by introducing various vocational training programmes,” added Mankin.
Hijras, who are neither male nor female, have officially been recognised as a separate gender in Bangladesh since 2013 and get priority for education and other rights.
The government has also decided to recruit them as traffic police members from the next fiscal year.