Delay in drafting the HIV/AIDS Bill has forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to step in. In a letter to the AIDS Control department, Singh has asked it to appraise him about the status of the Bill and the reasons for its delay.

Union Health Ministry finalised the Bill in 2006 and sent the draft to Law Ministry in 2007. Two years later, the Bill is stuck as the Law Ministry is yet to approve it. It has reportedly truncated some “important” provisions of the Bill and sent it back to the Union Ministry, which is not happy with the truncated version.

“Had the draft been approved by the Law Ministry it would have been tabled in the cabinet by now. However, it sent the Bill back to us only a few days ago, asking the department to incorporate changes suggested by them. The department has written to them (Law Ministry) citing the importance of the provisions,” a Health Ministry official said.

Law Ministry is reportedly uncomfortable with a provision in the Bill which “suggests that orphans of AIDS victims should get property rights even if they are minor”, sources said. The ministry is also opposed to giving an older child of the victims guardianship of the younger siblings.

Health Ministry officials maintain these provisions were “meant to broaden the horizon of the Bill”. Not only the Health Ministry, HIV/AIDS patients and activists too seem to be unhappy with the Law Ministry’s version of the Bill. About 400 people including people living with HIV protested against the latest version of the HIV/AIDS Bill on Wednesday and demanded that provisions truncated by the Law Ministry be reinstated.

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