Having problems with message search?
AIDS spectre looms over mill colony
Two year old Toka is slowly picking up Oriya, his mother tongue. But his mother Bobita Das, and neighbors are worried that the child may not live long enough to
complete his learning. For, there’s a chance that the toddler is HIV-infected.
And it’s not only Toka and his mother who are worried. Many others living in labour lines of Bally Jute Mill are AIDS patients, but don’t know about it.
Bobita (26), who lives in the labour lines of Bally Jute Mills, is a full- blown AIDS patient, and is now counting her days. Her husband Kailash Das, who used to work as a labourer in the mill, died of AIDS on September 24, aged 35.
“We don’t know, but Toka may also be infected”, the hapless mother said, adding that she was now worried about the future of her two sons- seven year old Viki and the younger Toka. Viki, she says, doesn’t have
AIDS, because he was born long before both the parents had contracted AIDS. It’s Toka who’s giving her sleepless nights. “I don’t have the money or the energy to take him for blood tests”, Bobita said.
It’s believed that Kailash was infected with the killer virus because of his homosexual habits. And his death made her life a living nightmare. Not only did she realize that she too had contracted HIV, she was even ostracized by her neighbors, thrown out of her in-laws’, and had to deal with very limited money to support herself and her two
kids.
Many other residents of the labour lines are afraid that the killer disease has taken deep root in the locality. There is a report that at least three more inhabitants are HIV infected.
The hapless mother saw a ray of light on Tuesday when members of the West Bengal Chapter of Fracois-Xavier Bagnoud ( FXB ) India Society visited the area with information on the killer disease. And she was overwhelmed when the members of Switzerland based organization promised to get Toka’s blood tested for HIV. “We will get Toka’s blood tested and start anti-retro-viral treatment for Bobita”, said Manidipa Ghosh, regional director of the organization. She added that they would now visit the labour lines of Bally Jute Mill for conducting AIDS awareness camps every week.
The organization fears that since many laborers suffer from STDs, tuberculosis and chronic diarrhea, the incidence of HIV in the locality could be much higher.
Even the mill management is concerned. Chief Labour Welfare Officer of ISO:9001 certified jute mill, Kamalendu Dasgupta, has vowed to fight the killer disease among his workforce. The management, in fact, is aware that a large section of the laborers frequent
brothels.
FXB members on Tuesday organized an awareness program at the local star club with the laborers of Bally Jute Mill, where CITU Leader Sunil Mazumdar urged them to fight the killer disease.
Ghosh said that they would now be carrying out mobile counseling sessions in the labour lines for more effective intervention, especially amongst the womenfolk. FXB members have also been carrying out awareness camps in labour lines of 10 more jute mills in Howrah, Hooghly and North and South 24 Parganas in the last four years. They are planning to conduct similar work in six more jute mills.
Win a Yahoo! Vespa NEW - Yahoo! Cars has 3 Vespa LX125s to be won Enter Now!
Offline 
Send Email