Lepers still feel outcast,discriminated against

“Forget common people,even doctors who examine is fear the spread of the disease,” says Subhramanium B,a leprosy patient living in Seelampur area of the capital which houses 30 leper colonies with a population between 10,000- 12,000.

“The colonies are meant for leprosy patients and their families. But most of the women and men do not reveal their condition at their workplaces for fear of getting sacked,” says Subhramanium.

Girdhari Lal,President,Society for the Leprosy Patients Union (Seelampur),says only 1350 people get the stipulated monthly government stipend of Rs 1,000 while the remaining work or beg to earn a livelihood.

“The Delhi CM has announced increase in the stipend amount to leprosy affected patients to Rs 1800 but that is not enough,” he says.

The Delhi government had recently announced a hike in the monthly stipend for leprosy patients along with several new initiatives to help those affected get a livelihood.

A survey conducted by International Association of Integration,Dignity and Economic Advancement (IDEA) in 23 states and union territories revealed that there are around 670 self-settled colonies where those afflicted along with their families,bear the brunt of ostracism and are forced to live in seclusion and neglect.

“Even though only some people in leper colonies have been affected almost everyone living in such colonies have experienced the acute stigma and rejection of society and continue to face it even today,” says Vineeta Shankar,Director of Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (SILF).

SILF,which began in 2006 with a corpus of USD 10 million,works for socio-economic rehabilitation of leprosy affected people and their families by providing vocational training,education and micro-finance sustainable livelihood activities.

On a more positive note,Shankar states,”Today there is less than one new case of leprosy per 10,000 population in the country. We are on the verge of eradicating this disease for ever. Now with medical advancement,leprosy is completely curable with Multi Drug Therapy (MDT).”

According to SILF statistics,more than 65 per cent of the world leprosy affected population is in India and over 95 per cent population here is immune to leprosy. Eleven million people have been cured in India of the disease in the past decade and with the first dose of MDT,99 per cent of bacilli (bacteria) is killed.

16-year-old Swati,a resident of Tahirpur Leprosy colony in east Delhi,is quite upbeat because now many NGOs are coming up to help them.

“I am doing BCA and Sasakawa foundation is funding all my expenses. Not all,but many girls like me are benefited and getting education in the different field. Earlier I used to work as a servant and when the master came to know that I am from a leper colony,he immediately sacked me without paying the outstanding wages,” she says.

Adds Shankar,”We encourage the residents to fill applications as to what livelihood they want to take up and then provide micro-credits to achieve that. India has achieved the leprosy ‘elimination’ target in 2005 and is now targeting towards complete ‘eradication’.”