Rural Dev. Ministry, NACO sign pact to aid HIV-affected people

In a bid to reach out to people affected by HIV/AIDS and those vulnerable to it, the Rural Development Ministry today inked a pact with NACO for mainstreaming these sections and bringing them under its schemes and programmes like MGNREGA.
The MoU signed by Secretaries of Rural Development and Health and Family Welfare J K Mohapatra and Bhanu Pratap Sharma noted that recent evidences clearly point out that migration and mobility are key drivers of the epidemic, which is moving from urban to rural areas.
"Department of Rural Development (DoRD) has a major role in reaching out to potential migrants and spouses of migrants with information on prevention of HIV... DoRD may consider People Living with HIV (PLHIV) for entitlements under the rural development schemes.

"This would facilitate social protection to them and Most at Risk Populations (MARPS) and improve their access to the schemes pertaining to livelihoods, employment, housing and social assistance without fear of stigma and discrimination," states the MoU, signed between the Rural Development Ministry and the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO).
The pact formalises a partnership between two ministries on reaching people infected and affected with HIV/AIDS to harness the various programmes of the Rural Development Ministry like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Deen Dayal Upadhdyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Indira Awas Yojana and National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP).

In a statement, NACO said it considers it is important to garner multi-sectoral response for addressing HIV.

"Since it is driven by a number of socio-economic factors, health interventions alone are not sufficient to address causes and consequences.
"DoRD can play an important and meaningful role in reducing vulnerability to HIV and mitigating its impact on those infected and affected by enhancing coverage and reach of information on HIV prevention and services, reducing risk of HIV among high risk groups, vulnerable and bridge population like migrants and facilitating schemes for social protection of people infected and affected with HIV/AIDS," it said.

While NACO would provide technical support for inclusion of necessary information related to HIV/AIDS in guidelines, training manual, field publicity and materials of programmes and schemes for DoRD, the latter provides a platform for creating awareness about prevalence of HIV through personal approach at work sites of MGNREGA, among Self Help Groups of NRLM and beneficiaries of DDU-GKY.