Assam Rifles has 188 cases of HIV/AIDS

[Guest guest]

Assam Rifles has 188 cases of HIV/AIDS

Press Trust of India, Shillong, June 23, 2006

The Assam Rifles, the oldest central paramilitary force of the

country exclusively deployed in the North East, has 188 cases of

HIV/AIDS among its personnel, its Director General Lt Gen Bhopinder

Singh said in Shillong on Friday.

Addressing a special 'Sainik Sammelan', the DG said " everyone must

act forcefully with firmness, urgency and utmost seriousness to

prevent the further spread. Everyone must learn to live in the

surrounding environment in a dignified manner. "

Lt Gen Singh, who will retire this month-end, said in the last two

years, the Assam Rifles has been able to control diseases like

malaria, jaundice and tuberculosis.

With the troops being permanently deployed in the Northeast, plans

were approved for making more accommodation in places like Shillong,

Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat, Tezpur, Agartala and Dimapur so that

maximum families of the personnel could stay in closer locations

while they were serving in the region, he said.

Highlighting various developmental work undertaken during his tenure,

the DG expressed happiness for efforts being taken for uplift of

quality of life and welfare of the personnel including those posted

at far-flung areas.

He encouraged the troops to carry on the good work carried out by

them and live upto the reputation of being the " friends of the hill

people " , a sobriquet for the Assam Rifles.

Lt Gen Singh said in his military career spanning over 41 years, the

last two years were the " most satisfying " ones which earned him the

Param Vishist Seva Medal, the highest award which was possible

because of the hard work by all ranks and file.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1726765,0006.htm

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

It was really an interesting article and leaves many questions unanswered.

The most important question being what is going to be the fate of those 188

soldiers who are found to be living with HIV/AIDS? Will they be thrown out of

job?

Position by armed forces vis-à-vis HIV/AIDS has be quite dubious till now.

This could be partly due to the fact that legal system (including our

Constitution) has given armed forces a very special and rather

insurmountable position. This has led to many interesting decisions by them

vis-à-vis HIV/AIDS as a workplace issue. As you would have noticed, armed forces

are the first ones to take the public stand of making HIV/AIDS test compulsory

during their pre-employment testing. It appears from this article, that they

also have HIV as part of their annual medical check up.

The NACO policy does not encourage pre-employment and mandatory HIV testing and

most government bodies don't indulge into this practice. Have armed forces been

exempted from it?

Many a times those advocating against pre-employment and mandatory testing in

private sector face the question as to why is the same practice acceptable in

the armed forces. Its the question for which one can't really have a strong

answer.

I remember one army official told a newspaper some time back, that to reduce HIV

incidence in the armed forces they are making HIV testing compulsory. Well, the

reason why we have so many people living with HIV/AIDS in the armed forces is

not because they recruit positive people but they become vulnerable once they

join the forces. Vulnerability of armed forces to HIV/AIDS is an established

fact. As we know, any worker working away from the family, in reproductive age

group, in a position of power vis-à-vis local population (be it money or force)

has a higher chance of involving himself into high risk behaviour.

One must admit that there have been some steps taken by the armed forces to

control spread of HIV among the soldiers but vis-à-vis their stand about the

rights of PLWHAs there much still to be clarified.

Regards,

Shailesh Vaite

shaileshvaite@...