BSF to allow its jawans to live with spouses to ward off AIDS

New Delhi, Aug 10 (PTI) Alarmed by increasing cases of
HIV/AIDS among its jawans due to unsafe sex, Border Security
Force (BSF) has decided to allow its personnel to bring their
spouses to the nearest station of posting.

Director General of BSF Raman Srivastava said the
decision was taken after 299 cases of HIV/AIDS were reported
among the personnel of the border guarding force.

"We have taken the decision to allow our personnel to
keep their spouse at the nearest village or town of his
posting," Srivastava said.

BSF is also contemplating to induct a special course
on HIV/AIDS for the new recruit to brief the personnel about
the disease.

"All BSF personnel enjoy two months leave besides 15
days casual leave in a year. But allowing them to keep their
spouses near the place of posting will help them in keeping
themselves physically and mentally fit," he said.

With number of HIV/AIDS cases among police and
paramilitary personnel increasing alarmingly, the Centre has
decided to convene a national conference later this month to
chalk out strategies for combating the challenge.

The conference will also take stock of the initiatives
taken by the Home Ministry for mainstreaming of paramilitary
forces and state police personnel on prevention of HIV/AIDS to
ensure successful implementation of the national AIDS control
programme.

"Recognising the need for introducing structural
changes for an effective response by the police, the ministry
has formally endorsed the UNAIDS India recommended strategy
for HIV programming with uniformed personnel," an official
said.

Representatives of seven paramilitary forces -- CRPF,
BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, NSG and Assam Rifles -- and all state
police forces will take part in the meeting.

For prevention of spread of HIV/AIDS among policemen,
an action plan has been implemented and a task force
constituted for the purpose.

The move to deal with the challenge came following
reports of growing number of HIV/AIDS cases in police forces.
The CRPF also reported 273 full blown cases of AIDS in four
years between 2005 and 2008, including 78 in 2008 alone.

Besides, the largest paramilitary force reported 1,547
cases of HIV positive in the four-year period -- 665 alone in
2008. PTI ACB
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