Agartala, Oct 3 (TIWN) Responding the opposition Congress’ demand, the Tripura government has asked the concerned official to probe against the NGO which reportedly enrolled common housewives as sex workers to manipulate fund approved for campaign against AIDS.

Opposition Congress has demanded judicial inquiry into this alleged manipulation of government fund meant for battle against AIDS.

Tripura health and education minister Tapan Chakraborty told reporters Thursday : “The government has ordered a thorough investigation into the complaint. If the NGO people found responsible for any wrongdoing, the government would take stern against the NGO.”

Senior Congress leader and former minister Birajit Sinha raised the issue in the just concluded monsoon session of the Tripura assembly, which ended October 1.

Mr Sinha, also a former chief of Congress party in Tripura told the house that an NGO in north Tripura’s Kailashahar has recently enrolled around 600 poor housewives as sex workers to manipulate fund meant for campaign against AIDS.”

He also Thursday told reporters that the NGO siphoned lakhs of rupees through Targeted Interventions (TI) programme intended to reach out people affected with high risk HIV/AIDS.

“Common housewives, tea workers and women belonging to minority groups have been enrolled as sex workers by the NGO in the TI programme to fulfill the stipulated criteria. The NGO first conducted health camps and collected blood samples on false plea of malaria finding exercise,” Mr Sinha said adding that only a judicial probe can unearth the scandal.

The Congress leader said that the name of the housewives and other women workers were registered as sex workers without their knowledge and processed to secure fund from the Tripura Aids Control Society (TACS) in league with a section some corrupt officials and ruling party’s leaders.

The fund for TI programme has been sanctioned by the union health ministry to the TACS to conduct campaign against AIDS/HIV through the NGOs.

In Tripura there are 14 NGOs implementing the TI programme.

Local people in Kailashahar, 185 km north of here, Tuesday ransacked the offices of an NGO called ‘Action Aid’ and lodged complaint against it with the police for manipulating fund meant for campaign against AIDS.

The ‘Action Aid’ NGO authority has, however, strongly denied allegation against it.