Considering Goa to be a very progressive state, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday (July 8) said that the state government is planning to make the HIV test mandatory for couples before registration of marriage. The government is even intending to bring in legislation for this.
Speaking to a news agency, Rane said, "The plan is to make the HIV test mandatory for couples before registration of marriage in Goa." He further went on to say that the Goa law department is vetting the proposal to make the test compulsory in the coastal state.
Rane added saying that once the legislation is cleared by the law department, the Goa government can introduce it in the state Assembly during the upcoming monsoon session, which begins on July 15. The Health Minister said that he is 100 per cent in favour of making both tests mandatory before registering marriages as he said that this was possible in Goa.
In 2006, the then Health Minister Dayanand Narvekar of the Congress-led state government mooted a similar proposal to make the HIV test mandatory for registration of marriage. However, their initiative did not reach fruition.
