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The Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Sunil Dutt has said that Nehru Yuvak Kendra Volunteers along with the experts, Medical teams, Street-play performers, and representatives of NGOs will fan out in the country to help fight the menace of HIV-AIDS. He was addressing the concluding session of the seven-day workshop organized to develop Training Curriculum and Communication Initiatives at Surajkund, in Haryana today. The workshop was attended by experts on HIV-AIDS, communication and media. Playwrights, lyricists and copywriters.
Shri Dutt said that forty per cent population of the country is youth and they are the most vulnerable section as far as HIV-AIDS is concerned. It is therefore an opportunity for the Nehru Yuvak Kendra Sangathan, an autonomous body under his Ministry, that it has been chosen for this task of generating awareness campaign across the country, he added.
He said that it is perhaps for the first time that the Government, NGOs, and bodies like National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) are coming together to fight this menace. He hoped that the concerted efforts would certainly bring good results and we should be able to eradicate this disease.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of State for Programme Implementation and Statistics, Shri Oscar Fernandes said that this is a major initiative and an integrated approach to involve Panchayats will certainly make this campaign successful. He said that youth could do the task of generating awareness about HIV-AIDS in the best possible manner.
The Vice Chairman of the NYKS, Dr. Shakeel Ahmed Khan said that Nehru Yuvak Kendra will leave no stone unturned to make this campaign successful.
Red Ribbon Express is a mega project conceptualized by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and NACO with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan as the chief implementing agency. It is a country wide attempt to generate awareness on HIV/AIDS in over 30,000 panchayats and would be an endeavor towards achieving the national objective of reducing the rate of new HIV infections in highly vulnerable states by the year 2007.
Red Ribbon Express is being planned to generate awareness on HIV/AIDS issues across the country wherein four special trains will start from 4 different directions i.e. from Jammu (J&K), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) and Guwahati (Assam). These special trains will move on different routes, will cover a distance over 6000 k.ms each and hold over 29000 programs and activities in over 29000 villages/urban areas.
The first train from Jammu to Nagpur will cover the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh (UT), Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, UP, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The second Train from Jodhpur to Nagpur will cover the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.
The third train from Guwahati to Nagpur will cover the states of Assam, Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh (Eastern Region), Madhya Pradesh (Three Districts), Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The fourth train from Kanyakumari to Nagpur will cover the states of Tamilnadu, Pondicherry (UT), Kerala, Kiarnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Each of the above trains will have over 60 young participants and few celebrities. Among the participants there shall be Street play performers / actors and theatre persons, orators, experts managing alternative communication devices, Doctors, Nurses, laboratory technicians and representatives from NGOs etc.
The proposed activities in the train while the train halts at the Station include: Exhibition, plays, songs, to generate awareness on HIV/AIDS and STI/RTI; Medical examination, counselling and consultations facilities in the special clinics on train and Training for doctors, local practitioners, social activists and opinion leaders
In the villages, volunteers (in 10 groups) from the train would move into the community to generate awareness on HIV/AIDS. They would meet the PRI members/local authorities, read out the Prime Minister’s message and take a pledge to act for responsive behaviour in each village. A separate group of local volunteers would generate awareness and build environment in the community. Various communication media like street plays, folk songs, quiz programmes, film shows, etc, have been planned to spread out the messages.
Representatives of District authorities and local institutions such as schools, colleges, Panchayats, NGOs, Youth Development Centres, Youth Clubs, Mahila Mandals, Self Help Groups etc., would be involved to carry out the field level activities
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