OREANDA-NEWS. December 2, 2011. 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.