Married and cheating? Balbir Pasha’s watching you

This year, Population Services International, the NGO that organised the campaign, say they want to get it right. ‘‘We’ve learnt our lessons. It’s not targeted at any group or community like commercial sex workers, it’s more about behaviour,’’ says Dr Shilpa Merchant of Population Services International.

In other words, Balbir Pasha is out of the red-light districts of Mumbai and into the homes of men who cheat on their wives and men who think using a condom is not macho. Pasha’s bottomline is: Even healthy-looking partners could have AIDS.

This time, the NGO has made more friends. With Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as partners, the message is ‘‘more subtle’’.

‘‘We had several pre-testing surveys. So now the campaign is toned down and more focussed,’’ says Dr Alka Gogate, project director, MDACS.

Some women activists don’t think so. ‘‘We are trying to reduce the stigma against sexually exploited women, but this campaign reiterated it. I would never support such initiatives,’’ fumes Priti Patkar, founder of Prerana, an NGO working with commercial sex workers and their children.

The public service campaign, created by Lowe Lintas, will be aired in Hindi and Marathi for three months. It will kickstart with a teaser asking: Kaun banega Balbir Pasha? (Who wants to be Balbir Pasha) and culminate in the promotion of the NGO’s helpline Saadhan.