Jamshedpur, May 4: Sex workers from Sonagachi, the red light area of Calcutta, are frequenting the state to make some fast money.

Some social organisations, working for prevention of HIV/AIDS, stumbled upon this fact sometime ago when they came across sex workers from Sonagachi in some parts of Ranchi and East Singhbhum districts. Members of the Krishi Gram Vikas Kendra (KGVK), the social arm of the Usha Martin group of industries, met a few of these sex workers in an urban Ranchi locality. In Baharagora area of East Singhbhum, volunteers of Alternative for India Development (AID) interacted with Sonagachi sex workers.

Apparently, high returns in the state allure Sonagachi-based sex workers to make frequent trips here. These women stay at rented houses for 15 to 20 days a month and return back after making some quick money. “During our AIDS awareness programme in the capital about two months back, we came across two sex workers of Sonagachi in one locality and if they are to be believed, they get about Rs 400 to Rs 500 per client in the state. But in Sonagachi they do not get more than Rs 150,” KGVK sources said.

Project director of KGVK’s AIDS awareness programme S. Dutta did not rule out the possibility that sex workers from Sonagachi visit urban areas of the state to make quick money. A study made by another social group suggested that the rate at which commercial sex workers get clients in the state is low compared to Calcutta or Mumbai.

“According to the study, a sex worker in Jharkhand gets about two customers a day whereas in Calcutta the same worker could get about five to six customers. Despite this, sex workers from Calcutta are making trips to the state since work is less and the returns are high here,” Dutta said.

KGVK officials were told by the two Sonagachi sex workers that most of their customers in the state refuse to use condoms. But they rarely turn them away since the chances of getting customers are low here. “The trend is alarming since Sonagachi sex workers cater to a wide range of clients. Unless the men take precautions while having sex, the fallout could be detrimental for the state as far as spreading of HIV is concerned,” a social worker said. What has compounded problems for these social organisations is that, unlike in some metros, there are no specifically demarcated red light areas in the state.