Ganjam (Orissa): AIDS amoung the migrant workers

[Guest guest]

The nexus between migrant workers and AIDS:

Ganjam (Orissa), Sep 12 : A deathly scourge is developing in this district, home

to nearly 45 percent of the total HIV/AIDS cases in the state and where an

alarming 85 percent of the victims are migrant workers and their spouses.

Left unattended, the villages in southern Ganjam district of Orissa could spell

disaster for the impoverished state, reports Grassroots Features.

" Migrants are among the high risk groups because of unsafe sexual practices and

increasing susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases, " said Sarita

Badapanda, an independent researcher.

And though the connection between migration and HIV has already been established

in Ganjam through studies by NGOs, the issue has failed to attract the attention

of either the Orissa State AIDS Cell (OSAC) or the state government.

So, people like Parbati Pradhan, 23, continue to suffer endlessly.

Her woes began when her husband Jadunath, who was working in the textile mills

of Surat in Gujarat, was tested HIV positive at a private nursing home at

Berhampur, the largest commercial town in Ganjam. Soon Parbati and her

five-year-old son also tested positive.

Belonging to a remote village, Parbati and her traumatised family were first

sent from the government medical college in Berhampur to a private nursing home

because the former did not have any testing kits.

The nightmare followed them to their village, where the couple and their small

child were completely isolated from the family and the community.

" There's no government agency from where we can seek help, " lamented Parbati,

discussing the periodic infections she and her husband suffer from.

" Surviving and earning our livelihood is another problem as no one is prepared

to employ us. "

There are many like her, left alone to face a life of hardship and ostracism in

a state beset by droughts, poverty and starvation.

Orissa is classified as a low HIV prevalence state, but it is potentially

vulnerable due to regular natural calamities, large migrant populations

(including tourists), long stretches of national highways, labour-intensive,

large-scale mining activities, poor availability of specialised health services

and limited HIV preventive measures.

In Ganjam, small land holdings and landlessness lead to migrations from every

village in 17 out of the 22 blocks especially to Gujarat, Mumbai and Andhra

Pradesh. About 500,000 people migrate to Surat, Alang and Mumbai every year. Of

the 200,000 Oriyas in Surat, 70 percent are from Ganjam.

Mono cropland, low productivity, droughts and natural calamities have made

agriculture unproductive.

" There are no employment opportunities in our villages and since Surat is a

tried and tested place most of us prefer going there, " explained Mayadhara who

works in a dyeing unit.

While they earn Rs. 20-30 a day in their villages, it goes up to Rs. 80-200 in

Gujarat.

They return to their native villages during leave and transmit the infection to

their wives. The infection thus spreads from the core group to the rest of the

population, and from urban centres to villages all over the state.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Orissa and Gujarat on Dec

3 2002 to address the issue of migration and HIV/AIDS in Ganjam and Puri

districts. However, it expired in November 2003 with few initiatives taken by

the respective states' AIDS cells.

" The state government never considered migration and HIV as important issues, "

complained Loknath Mishra from Aruna, a Ganjam- based voluntary organisation

working on migration and HIV/AIDS.

Even in this scenario, all AIDS prevention programmes in Orissa have stopped for

the last one year.

" OSAC went to the extent of claiming in the last session of the Orissa assembly

that 21 projects were running with its support when in reality none were, " said

Mishra.

According to a recent study on Migration and Knowledge, Awareness, Beliefs and

Practices conducted in Ganjam and Gajapati districts by Lepra India, 32.04

percent of the respondents visited female sex workers (FSWs) once every week;

9.71 per cent visited FSWs daily; 32.04 percent had sexual encounters whenever

they got an opportunity.

Treatment for sexually transmitted infections and other health problems is not

undertaken for most migrants' spouses in Ganjam because the men are absent. This

has a huge impact on women.

Activists have stressed that counselling spouses and families of migrants and

sensitisation about transmission of HIV must be included in government

programmes.

--Indo-Asian News Service

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