Ashwini Chaubey in a mobile blood donation van. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, Dec. 1: Bihar is considering reservation of government jobs for AIDS patients, a radical proposal that has opened a can of worms among rights activists striving to end discrimination against HIV-infected persons.

The initiative, possibly a first-of-its-kind in the country, was announced by state health minister Ashwini Kumar Chaubey at a function organised by Bihar State AIDS Control Society to mark World AIDS Day.

Chaubey said a proposal in this regard was under way and a final draft would soon be prepared by the health department for cabinet approval.

“This is meant to put an end to the stigma and discrimination that people living with HIV and AIDS have to face. We want to empower people suffering from the disease. Just as physically challenged people are given 3 per cent reservation in government services, we are serious about giving priority to those suffering from AIDS,” Chaubey said.

If the minister does indeed put word to action, it would benefit about 43,000 AIDS patients in the state.

Senior health officials said they were not aware of any such proposal. “The matter of giving an AIDS patient preference or reservation in government job has not come to my notice yet. May be something like this was contemplated before I joined the post. In that case, I will have to examine it before making any comment,” said Amarjeet Sinha, principal secretary, health, who will complete one year in office in about two weeks from now.

Chaubey’s announcement comes at a time when human rights activists and lawyers have been urging the Union government to introduce legislation to protect various rights of HIV-infected persons and curb discrimination.

“The proposed legislation is intended to protect HIV positive people from various forms of discrimination, including loss of employment,” said a lawyer who is familiar with the draft version of the legislation. “But job quotas could become very controversial.”

The New Delhi-based lawyer said any move to reserve jobs in government for HIV-positive persons is likely to trigger a debate on why a quota should be introduced only for HIV and not for other categories of patients with illnesses yet fit enough to work.

“Job quotas may also cause breach of confidentiality — those who get jobs through quotas may be identified as HIV positive persons,” said an advocacy officer with a non-government organisation campaigning for rights of HIV positive persons.

But a member of the HIV positive people’s network said he would welcome the announcement. “Such a move would help rehabilitation of HIV persons who’ve been discriminated against,” said Naresh Yadav, a member of the Uttar Pradesh network of HIV positive persons.

HIV rehab

The Bihar health department is also thinking of setting up rehabilitation centres for AIDS patients or HIV positive persons who have been discarded by their families.

“It is very unfortunate that most of the HIV-infected persons are disowned by their own people and have no place to go. The government will come to their rescue and we are in the process of preparing a permanent shelter for them in Patna where AIDS patients can put up irrespective of their financial status,” said health minister Chaubey.

Additional reporting by GS Mudur