Bhubaneswar:
The only breadwinner of the house, 45-year-old Batakrishna Khuntia, who used to work in a hotel in Mumbai, died of AIDS in his village Pakhar in Baleswar.
His wife, Bharati had sold everything for her husband's treatment. Now, there is nothing left for the children.
",I simply can't take care of the kids. I've to hand them over to some institution,", said Bharati, Khuntia's widow.
But in order to help such families, orphaned by AIDs or the victims, the government gives a sum of Rs 200 a month as pension. The patients have to travel a long way to get to Berhampur, the only ART centre in Orissa to get their medicines. The Rs 200 pension announced by the state government recently does not even cover their travel expenses.
",The government may think they have done us a great favour. But HIV positive persons have too many problems and 200 rupees is nothing. A family can never run with 200 rupees a month,", said Amarendra Behera, General Secretary, Orissa Network of Positive People.
",Even they are not in a position to go to the ART centre and get the medicine every month. At least now they can take care of themselves,", said Parameswar Swain, Project Director, Orissa State AIDS Control Society.
The country's budget for AIDS control over the next five years is 12,000 crore rupees. Orissa's budget is just 15 crore a year. If HIV positive people are to live with dignity, what they need is help with self-employment. Such meagre pensions serve no purpose.