http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180

There are something like 2 million hijra in India. This decision asks the Government to allocate them quotas for jobs etc.... a huge step forward.

Unfortunately India is not always so progressive!

Wow, I didn't see that coming...

But then, this article says hijras include eunuchs, and they already got separate IDs in 2009:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8358327.stm

I find this sentence confusing:

There are about 500,000 eunuchs in India. Known as hijras, they comprise the hermaphrodite, transvestite and transsexual communities.

But then, this article says hijras include eunuchs, and they already got separate IDs in 2009:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8358327.stm

I find this sentence confusing:

There are about 500,000 eunuchs in India. Known as hijras, they comprise the hermaphrodite, transvestite and transsexual communities.

As I understand it, the word hijra actually means eunuch, but is also used to cover transvestites etc.

Does the 2009 legislation also cover all these groups?

But then, this article says hijras include eunuchs, and they already got separate IDs in 2009:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8358327.stm

I find this sentence confusing:

There are about 500,000 eunuchs in India. Known as hijras, they comprise the hermaphrodite, transvestite and transsexual communities.

As I understand it, the word hijra actually means eunuch, but is also used to cover transvestites etc.

Does the 2009 legislation also cover all these groups?

If I were a transvestite, I wouldn't like to be called a eunuch. Or is there a cultural difference, they don't mind, and the meaning is just not easily translatable into English?