As part of the National Family Planning Programme, the Union Government started off on an ambitious venture of subsidising condoms and distributing them free or at nominal rates. Today, only the free distribution scheme exists, the Delux and Super Delux brands of Nirodh have been out of the market for nearly a year now.

Two reasons are being attributed for the non-availability of these condoms. One of them is the low profit margin offered to the retailers. ``We make a profit of around three rupees from the hot-selling Kama Sutra, why should we keep these condoms where the profit margin is negligible?'' asked a salesman at a medical shop in Vashi. Many medical shops simply refused to talk about the sale of these condoms because ``they are of no use tous.''

The retailers also complain of the lackadaisical approach of the government distribution agencies. ``Even when we place orders we don't know when we'll get the stuff, the government should remember that they are selling the product to us, not the other way round, '' said Ketanbhai, who runs a distribution store in Kandivli. ``These condoms are `weak brands' in market parlance. There are enough substitutes for them,'' said Dilip Mehta, president of the Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggists Association (MSCDA).

Absence of sales security is another factor which seems to drive the retailers away from the product. ``Its a nobody's product. Even if I buy condoms worth Rs 1 lakh today, I can never be sure that the government won't sell it to my neighbouring store the next day,'' said Jayesh Padya, an MSCDA functionary.

Many dealers feel that the concept of `social marketing' introduced by the government to get rid of distribution delays too has failed. According to the concept, the condoms aretransported along with fast moving commodities of big companies like Godrej and Hindustan Lever Ltd. ``Many a time, only the company products reach the destinations, condoms are low priority items for them,'' said Dr I S Gilada, of the Indian Health Organisation (IHO, an AIDS-prevention organisation.

Dealers are also reluctant to market the condoms due to the slow movement of the product. Usually orders are placed in terms of cartons, each containing 12 boxes of 30 packets each. Five condoms come in a packet of Deluxe costing Rs 2. ``At times, we have also sold these cartons to factories where these condoms are used as washers for machines,'' said a retailer at Borivli. The expiry date of a packet is two years after the date of production.

Where does this leave the clients? An exasperated Manoj Shandil, who searched for the condoms at eight stores in Mulund, said, ``They tell us protect yourself with Nirodh condoms, where are the condoms?''

However, the free distribution network of the governmentagencies is free from such troubles. According to Dr Gilada, the IHO is capable of distributing five lakh condoms at any given time. This is a view shared by most government agencies. ``The problems with the commercial condoms were that the government subsidised the condoms for the higher class of society.

Unfortunately, that class found it too cheap for their liking,'' said Dr H V Pophale, head of Family Planning and Medical Aid Trust, another organisation working in the field.