Mumbai:
Maharashtra may become the first state in the country to make HIV test mandatory before marriage.
A committee headed by the State Health Minister Vimal Mundada has already given an in principal nod to the proposal.
The decision comes after the Maharashtra Law Graduate Association filed a PIL in the High Court asking for such a test.
The High Court had directed the matter to the state government, which decided to form a committee to look in to the matter.
The solution, simplistic at best, was opposed once before when a public interest litigation was turned down by the Bombay High Court in April 2006.
It was a decision based on guidelines laid down by the National AIDS Control Organisation, guidelines, which state that no one should be forced to undergo a mandatory HIV test.
The guidelines also state that mandatory HIV test should not be a precondition for employment or providing healthcare and in case of marriage, a test can be carried out only if a partner insists on it.
But the debate rages on. Should the state protect one group's right to privacy or another group's right to life?
A committee headed by the State Health Minister Vimal Mundada has already given an in principal nod to the proposal.
The decision comes after the Maharashtra Law Graduate Association filed a PIL in the High Court asking for such a test.
The High Court had directed the matter to the state government, which decided to form a committee to look in to the matter.
The solution, simplistic at best, was opposed once before when a public interest litigation was turned down by the Bombay High Court in April 2006.
It was a decision based on guidelines laid down by the National AIDS Control Organisation, guidelines, which state that no one should be forced to undergo a mandatory HIV test.
The guidelines also state that mandatory HIV test should not be a precondition for employment or providing healthcare and in case of marriage, a test can be carried out only if a partner insists on it.
But the debate rages on. Should the state protect one group's right to privacy or another group's right to life?
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
