Mumbai:
Controversy over the plan to enforce pre-marital testing for HIV in Maharashtra has aggravated further with opposition from the state's bureaucracy saying that the plan is not only impractical but riddled with loopholes.
It was meant to spread awareness about HIV and hopefully curb the spread of the killer disease. But the storm over pre-marital testing has drawn severe criticism within the state government.
One of the biggest criticisms against the proposal is the haste with which it was passed - in just two sittings. Critics point out that the state-appointed panel has not even stated its justification for pre-marital testing, neither does it have a roadmap for implementation.
So as the right to privacy versus right to life debate rages, senior bureaucrats concerned with implementing such a move point out that there is no mechanism to actually enforce pre-marital HIV testing and hence there is ample scope for its misuse and abuse.
Also, pre-marital testing is far from foolproof as HIV has a gestation period of several months. So the disease could show up after marriage.
Finally, experts point out that most HIV patients fall into the 35-plus age group, much older than the age at which most people get married.
Sources have said that though there is consensus within the committee which suggested the controversial plan, there is opposition from some ministers, a situation that has put the Chief Minister on the backfoot.
",It is not just the state and Centre that can decide on whether such a law has to come through. It has to be first presented to the public and only then can we take a decision. It is a very long process,", said Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra.
It is early days and the plan will have to stand up to public scrutiny. But for now, it seems to have little or no support except from the panel, which suggested this controversial move.