Latur: After CNN-IBN's sister channel IBN Lokmat exposed how a school in Maharashtra's Latur district had asked eight HIV-positive students to leave, the school administration was forced to reconsider its stand.
But the attitude of villagers is something that has not been altered despite the developments.
The school had asked the kids to leave due to parents of other students having protested their presence in the school.
Presently, out of 230 students only 48 have returned to school. The district administration has now started HIV-AIDS awareness programme.
Social workers and district officers are carrying out a door-to-door campaign to create awareness but to no avail.
In spite of the district collector ordering the school to take back the eight orphaned HIV-positive children, the school expressed helplessness, giving in to pressure from the other parents.
After Network-18's IBN Lokmat channel reported the incident on Friday, the government on Saturday intervened. It also ordered a probe into incident.
School authorities had defended their stand by saying that they had to take the decision after parents of other students had stoppped sending their children to the school. Head Master, Zilla Parishad School Hasegaon had said that out of 204 students, 147 were missing from school before the report.
The parents feared that their children would also be infected with the HIV if they mingled with the infected children.
The HIV positive children are all orphans and were enrolled in the school through the efforts of a local NGO. After Network-18 reported the children's plight, the local administration sounded a warning.
The Latur district collector had declared that all development work in the area will be brought to a halt if the villagers refuse to relent and if this fails to move the village then legal action will be taken against members of the Gram Sabha.
Meanwhile, human rights activists are now demanding concrete action.
The authorities say they will ensure that the children are taken back but sweeping away the villagers' prejudice would be an uphill task.
Comments
0 comment