: National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice K.G. Balakrishnan on Friday called upon corporate houses to adopt residential colonies of persons affected with leprosy as a philanthropic gesture.
“There is no dearth of money for philanthropy but it needs to be properly channelised,” said Justice Balakrishnan while addressing a day-long national conference on leprosy organised by NHRC. He said there was a need study why the incidents of leprosy were more in some States.
Efforts had to be made by various stakeholders to spread awareness about the scientific facts related to the disease and destroy the myths associated with it, he said.
He said the discriminatory provisions in the law, including those in the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956, violating the rights of leprosy-affected persons, should be removed.
He said 33 States and Union Territories had almost attained the level of less than one case of leprosy per 10,000 population, but there were new cases of leprosy despite various preventive measures.
In this scenario, the issues of bringing leprosy-affected persons to the mainstream, their proper rehabilitation and financial assistance with uniform approach across the country remains a challenge.
