Ostracized by their families and mainstream society, hijras live in communal homes headed by their gurus. Because discrimination prevents them from taking ordinary jobs, they earn money through prostitution or begging, and sometimes by extorting funds by threatening to lift their saris and expose their mutilated genitals.

This is not the first time that Bihar - a state with a dismal reputation for lawlessness and poverty - has capitalized on the hijras' unique position in society. In 2006, the Patna Municipal Corp. used eunuchs as tax collectors in what became one of its most successful revenue drives, as habitual tax evaders preferred to pay up rather than have hijras singing and dancing on their doorsteps for the whole neighbourhood to see.

"That was slightly negative," Mr. Prakash says, "since they were used to [press] people to pay. We want to use them in a more positive way."

Though they held respected positions in the courts of India's Mughal rulers - Central Asian Muslims who ruled India from the 16th to the 18th century - today hijras are often attacked and persecuted, according to the New Delhi-based People's Union for Civil Liberties. Salacious rumours still circulate accusing hijras of abducting children for castration, and apocryphal stories of hijras who passed themselves off as women in order to marry unwitting heterosexual men are common.

The myths stoke fear and revulsion, provoking hate crimes ranging from rape to disfigurement with acid and even murder, according to PUCL, which has documented dozens of cases of such abuse.

"They're subjected to violence on a day-to-day basis by the community and the police, and there's no legal framework to deal with it," said Arvind Narain, a lawyer with the Alternative Law Forum, which represents marginalized groups and communities.

As the protectors of the state's young women, though, the state hopes the eunuchs will regain some of the respect they once commanded.