Delhi Government to Buy 4 Lakh Condoms for the City's Commercial Sex Workers

Delhi's red-light areas are facing condom scarcity since May, 2015, as the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) stopped supplying condoms in the area. In an attempt to meet the monthly demand of six lakh condoms at G. B. Road alone, the Delhi government will procure four lakh condoms till NACO resumes supply. Health Minister Satyendra Jain has issued an order in this connection to the director of the Central Procurement Agency (CPA) on Wednesday, September 23, 2015. An official statement said, "Director CPA, shall immediately procure four lakh condoms either through the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposal or by limited tender, if the same is not available at DGS&D rates for distribution to the commercial sex workers at G. B. Road."

The decision came after Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal met the minister and raised the concerns of high-risk sex at G. B. Road, making over 5,000 sex workers vulnerable to HIV infection.

The Delhi government has also ordered strengthening of health services at its Ajmeri Gate dispensary for providing better facilities to commercial sex workers and their children.

The DCW officials said that NACO which falls under the union health ministry, is supposed to supply 12 lakh condoms per month free of cost to the Delhi State Aids Control Society (DSACS), which distributes these condoms to the sex workers at G. B. Road. However, NACO has not supplied the lot since May, 2015.

Source-IANS