A condom vending machine at Khel Gaon. File picture

Ranchi, Feb. 22: Love is in the air at the Games village. The condom vending machines will vouch for that.

According to Aradhana Patnaik, the chairman of the medical sub-committee of the National Games, around 80 per cent of the machines installed at Khel Gaon, are getting exhausted on an average every day.

Around 7,000 guests, including players and officials, are residing at the 12 towers constructed at the Games village in Hotwar. Every tower has three condom vending machines, each having 30 pieces of protective gear.

“The machines are filled up daily and from the way the condoms are fast vanishing, it’s apparent that the guests are indulging in safe sex. It’s actually a good sign of our evolving mentality,” said Patnaik, who is also the director of State AIDS Control Society.

She added that there were many players who had come with their partners.

An initiative of the National Aids Control Society, the condom vending machines were first installed at the Commonwealth Games village in Delhi as a precautionary measure because a huge number of guests from across the country were participating in the country.

Safe sex or not, many people have raised objection to the “environment” at Khel Gaon. “The problem is that rooms for boys and girls have not been clearly demarcated. Ideally, boys and girls should have separate accommodation facilities with adequate security,” said a top official of the Indian Olympic Association.

S.M. Hashmi, secretary-general of the National Games Organising Committee, played it safe. “Having sex is a personal choice. If condom vending machines are getting exhausted fast, it means people are taking precautions.”