The spread of HIV in UP triggered alarms in the Assembly, with the chief minister advising legislators to ‘‘keep self-restrain’’ and create awareness about the disease. ‘‘I will also make effort to awaken people on this serious problem,’’ said Mulayam, reacting to an adjournment motion moved by the Congress on the spread of AIDS in UP, especially in eastern districts. The Congress demanded there was urgent need to come out with fresh laws to tackle the problem. ‘‘An all-party meeting can also be called.to ponder how a fresh law could be made to deal with those spreading AIDS by transfusing infected blood or using contaminated syringes. It would have been better had a law been framed by the Centre, but we can also request for the same after reaching a consensus in the meeting,’’ said Mulayam. Senior Congress legislator Jagadambika Pal, who moved the adjournment motion soon after Question Hour, claimed that almost all 32 districts in eastern UP had HIV positive cases in large numbers and doctors in government hospitals were not registering fresh cases to ensure numbers do not show a sudden increase.‘‘Siddarth Nagar alone has 65 HIV positive cases while Gagha village in Gorakhpur has 10. The AIDS virus is being spread by husbands who earn their livelihood in metropolitan cities and come back to their native districts in eastern UP, carrying the virus,’’ said Jagadambika Pal.
