BSF to allow its jawans to live with spouses to ward off AIDS

New Delhi, Aug 10. Alarmed by increasing cases of HIV/AIDS among its jawans due to unsafe sex, BSF has decided to allow its personnel to bring their spouses to the nearest station of posting.

Director General of BSF Raman Srivastava said the decision was taken after 299 cases of HIV/AIDS were reported among the personnel of the border guarding force.

"We have taken the decision to allow our personnel to keep their spouse at the nearest village or town of his posting," Srivastava said.

BSF is also contemplating to induct a special course on HIV/AIDS for the new recruit to brief the personnel about the disease.

"All BSF personnel enjoy two months leave besides 15 days casual leave in a year. But allowing them to keep their spouses near the place of posting will help them in keeping themselves physically and mentally fit," he said.

With number of HIV/AIDS cases among police and paramilitary personnel increasing alarmingly, the Centre has decided to convene a national conference later this month to chalk out strategies for combating the challenge.

The conference will also take stock of the initiatives taken by the Home Ministry for mainstreaming of paramilitary forces and state police personnel on prevention of HIV/AIDS to ensure successful implementation of the national AIDS control programme.

Courtesy: http://www.samaylive.com/news/