GB Road desires to join the mainstream, demand legal licence to ply their trade
GB Road desires to join the mainstream, demand legal licence to ply their trade
It's not on just Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's mind.
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Nasreen, a sex worker at GB Road, in New Delhi on Monday.u00a0PIC/video Rajeev Tyagi |
The sex workers at Delhi's GB Road are willing to provide a well deserved boost to country's tax revenues.
Buoyed by the Supreme Court's observation that if the government cannot control flesh trade it should legalise it, the more than four thousand sex workers are wiling to join the mainstream and pay their taxes to the government.
"The government would be equally benefited, if they move to legalise our profession. We will turn taxpayers and we are more than willing to pay them on time. We won't cheat like others," Nasreen, a sex worker, told MiD DAY. City's sex street, which is marred by unsanitary conditions, touts, and mostly illegal activities, wants to deck up for the upcoming Commonwealth Games but the prostitutes allege that the government is "too busy" to pay heed to their problems.
"Leave alone our demands for basic sanitation and security the condoms which are provided to us by the NGOs here to protect us from sexually transmitted diseases are so bad that they end up causing problems. The customers also refuse to use them, putting us at a greater risk of contracting diseases like HIV/AIDS," said another sex worker, who refused to be identified.
The kothas at the city's most famous sex street are demanding a face lift in the wake of the national capital hosting the Commonwealth Games. But, the sex workers and NGOs working there alleged that while the whole city is being given a new look, their plight have been completely ignored.
"We want to be presentable to our foreign guests. What if somebody from a foreign country visit us in the present condition? It would only bring bad name to the country," said Iqbal, who is associated with an NGO working for the welfare of the sex workers.
The NGO worker pointed out that if the government moves to legalise the sex workers and provide them with licences, it will go a long way in alleviating their condition.
