NACO Terminated Funding for Kerala Prison Intervention Programme

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AIDS welfare activities in jails come to a standstill

Wednesday December 5 2007. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

T'PURAM: AIDS welfare activities in the 23 prisons across the state

have come to a standstill as the National AIDS Control Organisation

(NACO) has stopped funding.

A change in the policy of NACO not to provide funds for AIDS welfare

activities in prisons from November had resulted in the untimely

death of the project which was started in February, it is learnt.

Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS), which was implementing the

project, said that it had not fully backtracked from the activities

in prisons, but only decided to tone down the activities.

A contract was signed between KSACS and the jail authorities in

February for implementing the `Suraksha Prison Intervention

Programme' of NACO with a total outlay of Rs 40 lakh.

Twenty-six coordinators, including two state-level coordinators, were

also appointed. ``The project was being implemented effectively. It

was also identified that there were 32 HIV positive patients in the

jails,'' said a prison official.

The project was aimed at creating awareness among prisoners,

especially those who are prone to unsafe sex, on the ways by which

the disease is infected.

Making them aware of the ill effects of unsafe sexual practices and

conducting counselling among AIDS patients were also part of the

project.

Blood tests were conducted on all the jail inmates as well as those

who were being newly admitted. Medicines were also supplied to the

AIDS- infected inmates, he said.

Out of the Rs 40 lakh earmarked for the project, Rs 11.7 lakh was

already allotted, of which nearly Rs 9 lakh was spent. Remuneration

to the coordinators were also met from the funds.

On October 30, the jail authorities had received a letter from KSAC

stating that the contract with the prison authorities would stand

cancelled by November end.

Jail authorities said that the project would have to be terminated

since KSAC has cancelled the contract. `` The project is terminated

as NACO has stopped funding.

There is no other option before us to pursue the project, '' said

ADGP Prisons K P Somarajan. KSACS project director Usha Titus said

that a fresh project with some basic activities would be introduced

in the prisons within a couple of months.

``In order to utilise surplus funds, we have asked the jail

authorities to continue the Suraksha project in December also, '' she

said. With regard to the fate of the project coordinators, she said

that they would be accommodated in other projects of KSACS.

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