Nashik has gotten into trouble over a condom scandal ahead of Kumbh Mela celebrations, that are to begin on the 14th of July. The Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSAC) has reported a sudden shortage of condoms and expressed fears about unprotected sex and HIV during the mela.
With only 50,000 of the monthly received 1.54 lakhs condoms remaining, the MSAC is anxious that these would be over within a week into the mela. This is causing tension because the mela sees lakhs of migrants and tourists, as the event is globally popular.
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And this problem points back to the center that has reduced funds towards the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO), which in turn has reduced supplies to MSAC and other NGOs.
But on the other side of the controversy, the mela planners are enraged that condom statistics are being related to the biggest religious congregation in India. They claim that the two have nothing to do with each other and that the mela is about abstinence from sex and other pleasures. The media has been accused of relating a religious gathering to something that would be of least use.
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The MSAC is also now denying having ever related the condom issue to the mela. An official refuted rumors of a surge in condom supplies and said that the district, due to paucity of funds, has not been receiving the regular amount and that has got nothing to do with the mela.
The Kumbh Mela is the biggest spiritual congregation in India and the condom controversy does taint the image of the saffron clad. But, one has to also keep in mind, not everything that glitters is gold!
