The cabinet on Monday approved a proposal for recognising the transgender people as a separate gender to remove discrimination against the marginalised community in the society.
Besides male and female, the transgender people, who do not have a straightforward gender identity, would be identified as Hijra, cabinet secretary Mohammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said at a briefing after the cabinet meeting.
He said the term ‘Hijra’ would remain the same in Bangla and English to avoid confusion.
The social welfare ministry submitted the proposal at the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina at the cabinet division.
‘The transgender people are marginalised in the society and are facing discriminations in getting health services, education and housing facilities. These people are sexually disabled. As they do not belong to either of the recognised sexes [male and female], they face problems,’ Musharraf Hossain said.
He said the transgender people would be identified as ‘Hijra’ from now on and they would be entitled to getting passports and other facilities.
According to an official record, there are around 10,000 people belonging to the transgender community across the country.
They were not eligible for passports or any jobs in government services as they could not apply due to their biological identity, said officials.
The 225th cabinet meeting also approved the Bangladesh Hotels and Restaurants Bill 2013, revising the military regime’s ordinance of 1982 to regulate the hospitality industry.
It okayed the Bangladesh Energy and Power Research Council Bill 2013 with an aim to develop and adopt advanced technologies for this important sector.
Courtesy of New Age
