New Delhi, May 18: The Centre is considering adopting "Mx" as an honorific for transgenders, after the UK started using it recently.

Pronounced "mux", the world's first gender-neutral title was this month included in the Oxford dictionary, alongside the usual "Mr" and "Mrs".

In India, sources said the ministry of social justice and empowerment had been looking for a suitable honorific as part of its efforts to design welfare plans for transgenders since the Supreme Court last year accorded them legal recognition as the "third gender".

Little has moved on the ground since the directive in which the court had also ruled that transgenders were entitled to all fundamental rights, job and education quotas, and separate public toilets.

The lack of progress is largely blamed on a government review petition seeking clarifications from the court on the definition of transgenders.

The only step forward has been the inclusion of transgenders as a specific group in the Centre's housing scheme for the urban poor. Some other plans have been drafted for them, but officials said these would be finalised as soon as they get the clarification.

"Providing transgenders an honorific is important because all government forms require the gender column to be filled up. We are considering the 'Mx' honorific as an option, although no final decision has been taken yet on the issue," said a ministry official.

In Britain too, the title gained acceptance slowly, over two years.

In 2013, the Brighton & Hove City Council in Sussex was the first to allow the use of "Mx" in its forms. The Royal Bank of Scotland did so last year. Others followed suit, including the Royal Mail and government agencies issuing passports and driving licences. Some other countries, such as Australia, are also looking at the possibility of adopting the title.

In India, the process of recognising the group as distinct started a while ago. Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia, also in the capital, last year introduced a separate column "other", alongside males and females in application forms for students and faculty members. Eunuchs already have the option of writing their sex as "E" instead of "M" or "F" in online passport applications.

Last month, a bill on transgenders became the first private member's legislation to be cleared in Parliament in 45 years. The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, made it through the Rajya Sabha by voice vote thanks to the persistence of DMK MP Tiruchi Siva.

Transgender activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi said it "was unimaginable earlier to think lawmakers" would discuss such issues. "With the honorific plan, it shows they not only want to give us equal rights but respect too."