~TSRDS hosts Truckers Intervention Project to serve the truckers community~

Today, on the occasion of World's AIDS Day, Tata Steel Rural Development Society (TSRDS) under its Truckers Intervention Project celebrated Trucker's Utsav at Transport Nagar, Jamshedpur. TSRDS has been running Trucker's Intervention (TI) Project named 'Kavach' in collaboration with Transport Corporation of India Foundation (TCIF) since 2005 in Jamshedpur. More than 3000 truck drivers and helpers participated in the programme.

The event started with multi health diagnostic health drive and ended with various cultural programmes. There were various participatory competitions and games, where the truckers got an opportunity to display their talent. Various NGOs has also put up their stall near at the venue. In October, 2010, Project Kavach collaborated with Jharkhand State AIDS Control Society and became one of the first Truckers Intervention Project under JSACS in Jharkhand and one of the Learning Centre for NACO at the National Level. TSRDS has been chosen for the first Sentinel Surveillance Site in Jharkhand for the Truckers in 2011.

The goal of the project is to minimize the spread of HIV-infection among the long distance truckers at Tatanagar TSL. The objectives of the project is also to promote adoption of safer sexual behaviour and practices by the truckers through dialogue-based peer-led Interpersonal Communications (IPC) and Behaviour Change Communications (BCC) strategy, to promote use of condoms among truckers through improving access, to reduce the incidence of various Sexually Transmitted Infections among truckers through appropriate clinical intervention and creating an Enabling Environment by involving different stakeholders in their activities at intervention locations for the programme sustainability.

The intervention sites are Jamshedpur Transport Nagar, Dimna, LINFOX, Baliguma, Mathura Singh Parking, HN-33, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL), Baliguma, NH-33, Transport Park, Puja Maidan, Burmamines , Tinplate, Tata Motors, HSM Gate and Multi-Diagonostic Health Camps at various Hot Spots in Jamshedpur where the monthly check ups for the truckers are provided.

Dignitaries such as Mr Govind Ji, President, CBO and Mr Tapan Drripa, PO, TSG; Mr AC Srivastav, HOD Microbiology department, MGM, Mr Baily Bodhanwala, MD, Tarapore & Co Ltd, Mr Sanjiv Paul, Vice President (Corporate Services), Tata Steel; Mr Sudhanshu Kumar, MD, M/S Adityapur Toll Bridge Co Ltd were present at the event and highly appreciated the initiatives undertaken by TSRDS in promoting the health related issues for the truckers. Mr Sanjiv Paul said that Tata Steel has never been ignorant towards the welfare of the citizens of each and every community of Jamshedpur. He further said that initiatives such as this reflect that the willingness to assist the commoners has always been and will continue to be the tradition for the company.