There are six vagrants' centres with a total capacity of 1900 seats, far less than is necessary to accommodate more than 11 lakh vagrants across the country.

The total number of vagrants is 11,26,000, according to a survey conducted by the Bangladesh Project Management Institute, in cooperation with the Department of Social Service (DSS), in 2001.

Of them, 4,08,000 are children, while women account for 55 percent of the total number of vagrants.

The survey report also revealed that 81 percent of vagrants live in urban areas -- about one and half lakh in Dhaka city alone.

According to experts, the existing Vagrancy Act is inconsistent with the human rights.

On the one hand, vagrants face various forms of harassment and on the other, female vagrants pose a threat to public health as they are being abused sexually, which may help spread various diseases, said Siddiqur Rahman, deputy director of DSS (Vagrants).

The government has taken an initiative to make the Vagrancy Act time-befitting and to mitigate the suffering of the vagrants, he said.

The proposed law, 'Vagrants Welfare (Amendment) Act 2004', will not only include vagrants but also destitute children, prostitutes and mentally challenged people.

The amendment act proposed cancellation of a provision granting indemnity to persons involved in the death of vagrants or any kind of unexpected incident in the vagrants' centres, DSS sources said.

It also suggests taking up a three-year rehabilitation programme for the vagrants and forming three national management committees for the welfare of vagrants in rural areas.

As per the existing act, inmates are not allowed to leave the vagrants' centre on their own, but the proposed act calls for repeal of the provision in this regard, the sources added.

Siddiqur said the proposed amendment has been forwarded to the law ministry from the social welfare ministry.

"Besides, the government has also set up five more vagrants' centres in the divisional cities," he added.

Most of the existing six vagrants' centres are located in and around Dhaka, but these cannot be managed properly because of lack of government assistance, said a DSS official on condition of anonymity.

Only Tk 16 is allocated for a vagrant per day which is too inadequate, he added.

However, the deputy director said he applied to the finance ministry several times for an increase in the allocation to Tk 50.