19 HIV+ kids saved from being homeless

Timely intervention by the Jaipur district administration has saved a group of 19 HIV positive children from being rendered homeless, but only temporarily.

When the children, mostly orphans aged between 4 and 16, recently moved into a rented house in western Jaipur's Hanuman Nagar area, some neighbours fearing they might contract the virus pressurised the landlord to evict them.

"The landlord said the colony president VS Beniwal had received several complaints from residents about HIV+ children living in the neighbourhood," said Brijesh Dubey, president of Rajasthan Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (RNP+), an organisation that takes care of such children.

The children were earlier living in Jagatpura area but had to vacate it last week as RNP+ was facing severe financial crunch. Fortunately, Keep a Child Alive, a New York-based organisation, decided to fund RNP+ to help find a house for the children.

On November 2, the children were moved to the Hanuman Nagar house at a monthly rent of R20,000. But a week later, the landlord asked them to vacate the house. The organisation then approached district collector Naveen Mahajan. The matter has been resolved for now. But sensing trouble in future, RNP+ has requested Mahajan to arrange for an accommodation for the children.