JOIN USAntyodaya harms HIV+ family
An organisation working for people living with HIV/AIDS had been pushing for the inclusion of these families under Antyodaya Scheme.
But when their efforts finally materialised with the Education Department sending a recommendation to the Gram Panchayat for their inclusion, the news of their HIV status leaked out making life virtual hell for them. Before their HIV status became the talk of the town, Shankar (name changed) and his family managed a comfortable living.
He ran a tea stall at Palbhavi village in Raibag taluk and earned enough to support his family. His wife, also HIV positive, worked as a mid-day meal cook in the village’s Government Primary School.
Family ostracised
The couple have three children –– an eight-year-old daughter and two sons aged six and four –– all tested positive for HIV. With their HIV status exposed, the villagers have now ostracised the family. The School Development Management Committee members have fired Shankar’s wife, despite clear guidelines which specify that HIV patients cannot be discriminated, and nobody visits Shankar’s tea stall anymore.
The social stigma grew to such proportions that the family was forced to leave their home three months ago and seek shelter at their relatives’ houses.
“We had sought Antyodaya card hoping it would help us procure foodgrains. We never imagined that we would have to face such a day because of it,” Shankar informed activists working for PLWHA.
With the family now on the run, they are also deprived of their regular dose of Anti Retroviral Therapy at the District Hospital.