Page 66 - 15SEPT2018E

COLUMN

Leprosy is curable but

stigma linked to it kills

Additional Solicitor General Pinky
THE LAST iharika was living happily with Anand, in response, informed the apex
her husband Prashant Palande
WORD in Hosur village of Latur dis- court’s bench headed by Chief Justice
trict in Maharashtra. All went
Dipak Misra that the process for drafting
ABDUL WASEY N well for six years. Then she was the law to repeal all the discriminatory
diagnosed with leprosy. As soon as the dis- provisions was underway and the govern-
ease was confirmed, Prashant didn’t want ment needed four months to complete
to stay with her and sent Niharika back to it. The submissions were made while the
her brother’s house. His family was also not court was hearing a PIL by a Delhi-based
keen to keep her in their Kalachowki home. think-tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
Niharika was first admitted to a temporary praying to repeal 119 laws that allegedly
destitute home in Dahisar and from there discriminate against people suffering from
she was taken to Vehloli village. leprosy. The PIL had alleged that outdated
She is not the only victim of the stigma provisions denied them access to public
attached with the disease and legal loop- services, impose disqualifications on them
holes that act as a ground for divorce, sepa- under personal laws and prohibited them
ration and annulment of marriage if lep- from occupying or standing for public posts
rosy hits a person. More than 52 per cent of or office.
the world’s leprosy patients, according to Leprosy patients, according to medi-
Attorney-General KK Venugopal, live in In- cal experts, are no longer contagious after
dia, with over 1.24 lakh people added to the about a week of multi-drug therapy. Nearly
list every year. While the good news is that 95 per cent people have enough immunity
the disease is completely curable, the social against the disease anyway. Further, the
stigma attached to it continues to make disease can be completely cured within
lives miserable for the patients. six months to a year with a combination
The worst part is that colonial laws that of three antibiotics. In July, the court had
predate leprosy eradication programmes passed a slew of directions asking the
and medical advancements still remain on Health Department of the Centre, states
the statute book even after more than seven and UTs to carry out awareness campaign
decades of Independence of the country. at the grassroots level to put an end to
These were unconscionably discriminatory discrimination against persons suffering
from the beginning. The process of remov- from leprosy.
ing these legislations has been extremely If approved, the Personal Laws (Amend-
slow. The Lepers Act of 1898 was repealed ment) Bill, 2018, may mark the beginning of
only two years ago. the end to the culture of ostracisation that
Two recent developments may make most of the leprosy patients face and help
things a bit better for the leprosy patients. remove misconceptions about the disease
One was the introduction of a Bill in Parlia- and dispel the belief that physical segrega-
ment to remove the illness as a ground for tion of patients is necessary. It is sad that it
seeking divorce or legal separation from took so long to get such proposals on the
one’s spouse. Second was a query by the legislative agenda. But then, better late
Supreme Court, asking the Centre whether than never. Efforts on legal front is fine but
it would bring in a positive law conferring the society too need to play an active role
rights and benefits on persons with leprosy in ending prejudice against people like
and deeming as repealed all Acts and rules Niharika and help them live a normal life.
that perpetuated the stigma associated
with it. LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

TEHELKA / 15 SEPTEMBER 2018 66 WWW.TEHELKA.COM

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