Date:07/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/07/stories/2008020758941100.htm

National

Monthly pension for HIV-positive persons

Berhampur (Orissa): In a significant move, the Orissa government has decided to provide a monthly pension to HIV positive persons under the State-sponsored ‘Madhu Babu Pension Yojana’ from this month, official sources said.

Orissa is perhaps the first State in the country to provide such benefits to HIV positive persons.

Altogether 6,132 HIV positive persons in the State, irrespective of their age and earning conditions, will benefit under the scheme in the first phase.

The maximum beneficiaries would be the Drom Ganjam district where the number of affected persons was also highest in the State.

Under the scheme, every HIV-positive person detected will get Rs. 200 per month.

The government has also decided to provide widow pension to the wife of a HIV-positive person after his death, he said. — PTI