Condom-vending machines fail to deliver, removed

Ritika Jha Palial

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 2

Wary of investing on more manpower for protecting the 22 condom-vending machines from damage and theft, the authorities have gradually removed all machines from the city rather than promoting the use of condoms to prevent AIDS.

The project, announced by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) in 2005 and launched with much fanfare in 2008 in the city, failed to serve its purpose and collapsed within a year. In addition to 22 triple-column condom-vending machines installed at men’s toilets in Sukhna Lake, the ISBTs at Sectors 43 and 17, and markets in Sector 22, the UT Administration had gone a step ahead and launched a condom bar at Kala Gram.

A year after the machines were installed, while some were found stolen, the others were broken and damaged. After being pulled up by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for failing to protect the machines nationwide, NACO scrapped the project in 2011.

These machines were installed at a cost of Rs 22,000 and an equal amount was spent on their repair within a year. Realising that a free-of-cost product has little value, the Administration has now started selling condoms at economical prices through small vendors in villages around the city.

The UT Administration and the UT State AIDS Control Society gradually removed all these 22 machines and none could be found in any of the locations during a visit by a Chandigarh Tribune team.

A visit to Kala Gram today revealed that the condom bar, that had already invited a lot of criticism from several officials of the Administration, has been turned into a regular bar, serving drinks and food.

“We are now promoting the use of condoms for protected sex in all pockets of the city through small vegetable vendors, washermen, shop owners who sell condoms at reasonable rates (three for Rs 5). Our volunteers are active majorly on the periphery of the city,” said Dr Vanita Gupta, Project Director, SACS.

The condom bar was conceptualised by the then CITCO MD, Jasbir Singh Bir. It was decorated with original condoms of different colours and was available free of cost over the liquor counters to make it commensurate with the theme.