Udupi: People make life hell for alleged HIV +ve cook

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People make life hell for cook, family in Udupi district

Ganesh Prabhu

Only three schoolchildren eat food prepared by Jayalakshmi Bhovi

Unfair treatment: Jayalakshmi Bhovi preparing food at the zilla panchayat higher primary school at Thombattu village in Udupi district on Monday.

Thombattu (Udupi district): A serious problem has arisen at the zilla panchayat higher primary school at Thombattu village in Kundapur taluk, where a cook, Jayalakshmi Bhovi, appointed for the midday meal scheme, has been labelled as HIV positive by some influential persons in the village and the food prepared by her is being consumed only by three of the 110 students.

Thombattu is an obscure naxal-affected hamlet, 65 km from Udupi, in the picturesque Western Ghats.

The branding of Ms. Bhovi, who belongs to the Scheduled Caste, the systematic campaign against her by some vested interests, and her near-total social boycott is taking a heavy toll on her family.

It all started on June 20 when a SHG recommended the name of Ms. Bhovi for the post of cook. According to Jayalakshmi Shetty, a member of the SHG, 40 members of the School Development and Management Committee (SDMC) agreed to Ms. Bhovi's appointment. But the decision was not recorded in the minutes of the SDMC, she said.

However by June 24, there were rumours in the village that Ms. Bhovi was HIV positive. On June 26, Ms. Shetty took Ms. Bhovi to the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre (VCTC) at Brahmavar. Reports showed that she was not a HIV patient. Ms. Bhovi reported for duty on July 1. But soon, people of the village objected to her preparing the food and even heckled an activist of an NGO "Jeevana Sangharsha", Veena Shetty, who tried to explain the issue. They even threatened Ms. Jayalakshmi Shetty.

Since only three students were eating the food, Ms. Bhovi had to leave the job under pressure.

Later, the Department of Public Instruction, after an inquiry, reinstated Ms. Bhovi on July 23. But the number of students eating the food prepared by her remained at three.

On Monday (August 6), when president of the Udupi zilla panchayat B.N. Shankar Poojary and Deputy Director of Public Instruction K. Ananda visited the school it was found that only two students had their meals there.

Nearly 50 students had brought their lunch in tiffin boxes. Students of sixth standard said their parents had told them not to take meals in the school. The other students went home to have lunch. Most of the students remained silent or gave evasive replies to queries posed by the authorities and media persons.

Ms. Bhovi comes from a poor family. She got married six years ago and her husband died after one year due to liver cancer.

In order to teach Ms. Bhovi and her family a lesson, villagers imposed a social boycott on them.

"Villagers do not talk to us. We buy groceries from Ms. Jayalakshmi Shetty's small store.

One of the cooks, Savitha, resigned in protest." (Three cooks were appointed to the school).

Susheela, younger sister of Ms. Bhovi, said, "We had hoped that the situation would get better. But it did not. A person even came to attack me. So, we lodged a complaint at the Kundapur police station."

According to Keshav Koteshwara of Spoorthi organisation, the district administration had failed to take action against the persons behind the false propaganda.

"No FIR has been registered despite a complaint. What started as a trivial matter has now become a question of prestige for some influential villagers", he said.

Ms. Jayalakshmi Shetty said she could not bear the pressure in the village, suffered from low blood pressure and was hospitalised for 15 days.

Mr. Shankar Poojary said the only way to solve the problem was to create awareness among the parents. The children were not listening to anybody other than their parents, he said.

Mr. Shankar Poojary and other officials ate the food cooked by Ms. Bhovi at the school on Monday to instil confidence in them.

Whether that will have an impact on the students, remains to be seen.