HIV +ve persons now eligible for government jobs in Karnataka:-

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HIV positive persons now eligible for government jobs in Karnataka:-

Bangalore | September 10, 2005 2:34:43 PM IST

In a landmark judgement, the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal

(KAT), has held that a person who tests HIV positive is also

eligible for government jobs, including the post of police

constable.

A division bench of the Tribunal comprising its Chairman Justice A V

Srinivasa Reddy and Administrative Member P Kotilingangoud passed

the order while allowing an application filed by R Ramesh Rao of

Shimoga.

Rao was provisionally selected for the post of police constable

(civil) in Shimoga district in 1999 and his selection was subject to

the results of his physical and blood tests.

However, his selection was cancelled after he was tested positive

for HIV. His appointment was cancelled on the basis of a circular

issued by the DG and IGP in 1994 declaring that HIV positive persons

as unsuitable for the post of police constable. The tribunal found

this circular as unconstitutional and quashed it.

" The citizen tested HIV positive would be unsuitable to Civil

Services is hereby declared violative of article 14 and 16 of the

Constitution of India and therefore held illegal and

unconstitutional. Hence it is quashed and set aside, " said P

Kotilinganagoud, administrative member of the division bench which

announced the landmark judgement.

While upholding Ramesh Rao's petition KAT has ordered the State DGP

and IG to appoint Rao as a civil constable from the retrospective

effect and directed the State Government to issue necessary

instructions to all its appointing or recruiting agencies to avoid

denial of government jobs to HIV positive persons as the apex court

has already upheld their rights.

India has had a sharp increase in the estimated number of HIV

infections, from a few thousand in the early 1990s to around 5.1

million children and adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2003.1 With a

population of over one billion, the HIV epidemics in India will have

a major impact on the overall spread of HIV in Asia and the Pacific

and indeed worldwide.

The spread of HIV within the country is as diverse as the societal

patterns between its different regions, states and metropolitan

areas. In fact, India's epidemic is made up of a number of

epidemics, and in some places they occur within the same state. The

epidemics vary from states with mainly heterosexual transmission of

HIV, to some states where injecting drug use is the main route of

HIV transmission. Both tracking the epidemic and implementing

effective programs poses a serious challenge to the authorities and

communities in India.

It would be easy to underestimate the challenge of HIV/AIDS in

India. India has a large population and population density, low

literacy levels and consequently low levels of awareness, and

HIV/AIDS is one of the most challenging public health problems ever

faced by the country.

By the end of May 2005, the total number of AIDS cases reported in

India was 109,349 of whom 31,982 were women. These data also

indicated that 37% of reported AIDS cases were diagnosed among

people under 30. Many more AIDS cases go unreported.

The UN Population Division projects that India's adult HIV

prevalence will peak at 1.9 percent in 2019. The UN estimates there

were 2.7 million AIDS deaths in India between 1980 and 2000. During

2000-15, the UN has projected 12.3 million AIDS deaths and 49.5

million deaths during 2015-50.9

A 2002 report by the CIA's National Intelligence Council predicted

20 million to 25 million AIDS cases in India by 2010, more than any

other country in the world. (ANI)

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