Children living with HIV/AIDS got a valuable right securing their education on Friday after the Supreme Court directed all States to classify such children as ‘disadvantaged group’ falling under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 that will ensure no school denies or removes them from receiving education till the age of 14 years.
The order came on a PIl filed by NGO Naz Foundation which had pursued this matter with the court for the past three years.
The Bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud ordered, “We are prima facie of the view that State Governments should consider issuance of notification to include children living with or affected with HIV to be notified as belonging to disadvantaged group under Section 2(d) of the Act of 2009.”
Already, 12 States and one Union Territory have issued notification to this effect that includes Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Passing the order against all States and UTs, the Bench gave four weeks to issue appropriate notification and requested the Centre to communicate the order to all Secretaries of States/UTs handling School Education.
The Court further allowed States not willing to comply with the Court’s direction to file an affidavit and inform the reason for its unwillingness to issue such a notification.
Senior advocate Anand Grover who appeared for the NGO petitioner hailed the Court’s decision as a first step towards securing the rights of HIV affected children. According to National AIDS Control Organisation, India has an estimated population of 1.45 lakh children living with HIV who are below 15 years age. In most cases, they are either segregated or compelled to leave schools, the petitioner submitted.