75% Travel Concession at the cost of Forceful Public Disclosure in Rajasthan!

[Guest guest]

75% Travel Concession in State Transport Buses at the cost of Forceful Public

Disclosure by Rajasthan State Government!

Dear Forum,

You may aware that people living with HIV in Rajasthan are getting 75% travel

concession in state transport buses for the cause of treatment.

A committee of three Govt. representative medical officers at district level is

issuing a photo identity card that to be produced to any state transport bus

conductor to claim the concession, where it is clearly mentioned that the holder

of the card is " HIV POSITIVE "

along with actual Name, Father's Name and Address.

No doubt, this is a noble initiation by Govt. of Rajasthan to support poor HIV

Positives, who can't access treatment due to travel cost.

At the same time, it is also shameful for the Rajasthan State Government to

ignore " Ethical Obligation " towards " HIV Positive Citizen's Right to Privacy " .

As an impact of the system HIV Positives are becoming Scapegoat of Social and

Discrimination. Like, sometime after production of the card, the bus conductors

pushes down from the bus, sometimes co passenger fingers out openly as an “Aids

Patient” and alert each other not to touch and to keep distance etc.

Most of the time, HIV Positives themselves are afraid of the production of the

card publicly for Public Identification, which leads to stigmatization and

discrimination, when they travel in person and specially when they travel with

own families to access treatment. They collect money at any cost to meet up full

travel expenditure to reach hospital far from home. Such circumstances directly

their " Right to live in dignity " , due to ongoing Govt. system.

The above mentioned non sensitized Govt. attitude indicates wastage of money as

the implementing part of " National Aids Control Policy/Program " for awareness

and care givers training, even in higher level Govt. representative Medical

Authorities.

Instead of the words " HIV POSITIVE " in the Photo Identity Card, the words like

" Affected by Incurable Disease " could be a non discriminative Govt. support

towards travel cost in reality to access to treatment.

This is also to be noted that at the bottom of the card, it is printed, " By

courtesy- District level Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS " !

In Solidarity,

Snehansu Bhaduri

Mail:snehansu.bhaduri@...