Welfare schemes, more ART centres sought for HIV patients

Anantapur: Anantha Network of Positives, an NGO founded by a HIV patient G Veeranjaneyulu’s struggle for drawing the government attention to their problems had drawn flak despite his efforts in this regard for over a decade. The HIV-positive patients were demanding extension of certain welfare schemes meant for poor to them who are in hapless conditions. 

RTC bus passes to travel from their mandals concerned to district headquarters to collect their medicines from ART centre in Government General Hospital every month and return to their villages is a decade old demand which is yet to be fulfilled. The HIV patients carrying a stigma of untouchability and excluded by the society has been demanding houses to them from the government under the weaker section housing scheme, but this demand too has been paid a deaf ear. 

The old and dying hapless men and women are also pleading with the government for sanctioning of old age pensions. A septuagenarian Obulakonda of Dharmavaram, who has been battling with HIV for over two decades says that the government had announced pensions to Hijras, the third gender. “Don’t we deserve pensions, who are on the verge of death. We beg the government to apply their mind on the thousands of HIV patients in the state and in our district. We are unable to work and neither do the society help us. 

Maybe we are not a vote bank but help should be rendered to us on compassionate grounds,” muttered Obulakonda. There are 6,000 plus HIV patients languishing in sub-human conditions in the district. Many of them are in their evening of life waiting for their turn to die but for over a decade, the Anantha Network of Positives headed by G Veeranjaneyulu which has been working for the welfare of HIV victims. 

Veeranjaneyulu told The Hans India that after a protracted struggle with the government agencies, the SC and BC Cororations have now agreed to render financial help to HIV victims under their action plans. He hoped 6,000 HIV community would be covered under welfare schemes for poor. More ART centres need to be established in every mandal. Tens of children of HIV victims had been reduced to orphans after the death of their parents. 

The government should educate the children and integrate them with others in government homes and prevent social stigma from haunting the hapless children. There are 10,000 adults, who are in different stages of HIV and only 3,000 of them are getting pensions and a mere 65 out of 300 homeless were given house sites. Veeranjaneyulu feels that the pension amount of Rs 1,000 should be doubled to enable them to give nutritional diet to their HIV positive children. Separate Anganwadis should be created for the children and nutritional diet should be supplied to the children.