AIDS Spectre Looms Over Jute Mill Colony

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AIDS spectre looms over mill colony

Two year old Toka is slowly picking up Oriya, his mother tongue. But his

mother Bobita Das, and neighbors are worried that the child may not live long

enough to complete his learning. For, there’s a chance that the toddler is

HIV-infected.

And it’s not only Toka and his mother who are worried. Many others living in

labour lines of Bally Jute Mill are AIDS patients, but don’t know about it.

Bobita (26), who lives in the labour lines of Bally Jute Mills, is a full-

blown AIDS patient, and is now counting her days. Her husband Kailash Das, who

used to work as a labourer in the mill, died of AIDS on September 24, aged 35.

“We don’t know, but Toka may also be infected”, the hapless mother said,

adding that she was now worried about the future of her two sons- seven year old

Viki and the younger Toka. Viki, she says, doesn’t have AIDS, because he was

born long before both the parents had contracted AIDS. It’s Toka who’s giving

her sleepless nights. “I don’t have the money or the energy to take him for

blood tests”, Bobita said.

It’s believed that Kailash was infected with the killer virus because of his

homosexual habits. And his death made her life a living nightmare. Not only did

she realize that she too had contracted HIV, she was even ostracized by her

neighbors, thrown out of her in-laws’, and had to deal with very limited money

to support herself and her two kids.

Many other residents of the labour lines are afraid that the killer disease

has taken deep root in the locality. There is a report that at least three more

inhabitants are HIV infected.

The hapless mother saw a ray of light on Tuesday when members of the West

Bengal Chapter of Fracois-Xavier Bagnoud ( FXB ) India Society visited the area

with information on the killer disease. And she was overwhelmed when the members

of Switzerland based organization promised to get Toka’s blood tested for HIV.

“We will get Toka’s blood tested and start anti-retro-viral treatment for

Bobita”, said Manidipa Ghosh, regional director of the organization. She added

that they would now visit the labour lines of Bally Jute Mill for conducting

AIDS awareness camps every week.

The organization fears that since many laborers suffer from STDs, tuberculosis

and chronic diarrhea, the incidence of HIV in the locality could be much higher.

Even the mill management is concerned. Chief Labour Welfare Officer of

ISO:9001 certified jute mill, Kamalendu Dasgupta, has vowed to fight the killer

disease among his workforce. The management, in fact, is aware that a large

section of the laborers frequent brothels.

FXB members on Tuesday organized an awareness program at the local star club

with the laborers of Bally Jute Mill, where CITU Leader Sunil Mazumdar urged

them to fight the killer disease.

Ghosh said that they would now be carrying out mobile counseling sessions in

the labour lines for more effective intervention, especially amongst the

womenfolk. FXB members have also been carrying out awareness camps in labour

lines of 10 more jute mills in Howrah, Hooghly and North and South 24 Parganas

in the last four years. They are planning to conduct similar work in six more

jute mills.

Source: The Hindustan Times, Kolkata, November 22, 2005