An Indian state police force has recruited 13 transgender officers, an official said Wednesday, the largest such hiring from the country's still marginalised community. Transgender Indians often face abuse and discrimination -- including at the hands of the police -- from a young age, with the country's Supreme Court only recognising them in 2014. The recruits for central Chhattisgarh state police will join just two other known transgender officers serving in the nation's roughly two-million-strong force. "We have recruited transgender people as constables for the first time and I personally congratulate them," Chhattisgarh police chief D.M. Awasthi told reporters. Southern Tamil Nadu became the first Indian state to recruit a transgender individual in 2017, three years after the landmark Supreme Court judgement recognising the "third gender". However the community continues to face huge challenges. Many leave their families or are forced out of their homes into a cycle of exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and begging. In recent years, several government initiatives have been launched to help, including a government plan to hire transgender people to federal police forces. The eastern state of Bihar also announced in January that it would recruit one transgender individual for every 500 recruits in its police force. ja/stu/am/rbu